A three-week training course on maritime law enforcement for countries surrounding the Gulf of Aden concludes today (4 May) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The course brought together specialists from 14 signatory countries* to the Djibouti Code of Conduct – the IMO instrument helping to repress piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.
Participants covered topics covered under the recently adopted Jeddah amendment to the Djibouti Code – such as how to suppress a range of illicit activities. These include piracy, arms trafficking, trafficking in narcotics, illegal trade in wildlife, illegal oil bunkering, crude oil theft, human trafficking, human smuggling, and illegal dumping of toxic waste.
The course was delivered by instructors from the Border Guard of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, supported by experts from INTERPOL, the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Centre (NMIOTC), the Hellenic Police, the United States Coast Guard, United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and IMO.
IMO was represented by Chris Trelawny and Kiruja Micheni, who represented the IMO Secretary-General at the closing ceremony for the course. This was one of several courses honoured at a ceremony presided by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz, Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and the General Director of the Border Guard, Vice Admiral Awwad Eid Al-Aradi Al-Balawi.
The event was funded by Saudi Arabia and held at the Mohammed Bin Naif Academy for Maritime Science and Security Studies.
* Djibouti Code signatory States: Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen; as well as two representatives from the Bahrain Coast Guard.