Maritime law-enforcement officers from countries bordering the western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden are undergoing training to deal with organised transnational crimes at sea. Piracy, robbery, drug trafficking, marine terrorism, weapons’ smuggling and human trafficking are being covered during the IMO-sponsored, two-week course at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Centre (NMIOTC), in Souda Bay, Crete, Greece (16-27 November). The practical and theoretical course will help develop skills in countering maritime crimes, operational planning, investigating crimes at sea, interviewing suspects, and collecting, handling and preserving evidence at sea.
The course has been organised jointly by IMO and NMIOTC, the United States of America’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the East African Standby Force (EASF). Under this arrangement, further practical training will be provided in the region during Exercise Cutlass Express (January-February 2016). IMO’s Kiruja Micheni is representing IMO during the training course. Participants include maritime law-enforcement officers and prosecutors from Comoros, Djibouti, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia and the United Republic of Tanzania.