IMO participated in an annual maritime security exercise aimed at improving interoperability and cooperation among the maritime forces of Gulf of Guinea nations, Europe, and North and South America. The 2018 Obangame Express exercise (21-29 March) put special emphasis on encouraging navies and civilian agencies and different countries to work together, as envisaged in existing frameworks such as the Yaoundé Code of Conduct – a regional agreement against maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea, which IMO helped to establish.
IMO’s Chris Trelawny contributed to a Senior Leadership Symposium, in Libreville, Gabon, organized by the United States Naval War College in the margins of Obangame Express. Mr Trelawny addressed the symposium on the theme of “the Yaoundé Code of Conduct – Linking maritime security and development".
IMO also participated in the 2018 Cutlass Express maritime security exercise, which took place in February in the vicinity of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Mombasa, Kenya; and the Seychelles.
Participants in Obangame Express 2018 also include: Angola, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Togo, Turkey and the United States, as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).