Teams of maritime law enforcement personnel from Djibouti and Kenya are participating in the 16th course for Vessel Protection Detachment (VPD) Teams, run jointly by IMO, the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Centre (NMIOTC) and the East African Standby Force and IMO pursuant to the Djibouti Code of Conduct. IMO's Chris Trelawny was at the opening of the course (running 11-22 May) at the NMIOTC in Souda Bay, Crete, Greece.
To date, the programme, conducted under the auspices of the Djibouti Regional Training Centre, has trained some 261 personnel from 19 Djibouti Code of Conduct States. A graduate of previous courses is assisting NMIOTC staff in delivering the current course. Consideration is being given to extending this programme to support countries in west and central Africa.