François-Régis Cloup Mandavialle and David Nattrass attended the high level workshop on the implementation of the Jeddah amendment to Djibouti code of conduct, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 23 to 25 April 2019.
This workshop entitled “Addressing Maritime Security Challenges Through Regional Cooperation” was organized by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and hosted by the Border Guard of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at the Mohammed bin Naif Academy for Maritime Science and Security Studies in Jeddah.
The workshop was opened by Vice Admiral Awwad Eid Al-Balawi, the Director General of the Border Guard of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Mr. Chris Trelawny, the Chief, Sub-Division for Maritime Development, Technical Cooperation Division, IMO.
The 70 participants came from most of the signatory States and from international stakeholders involved in capacity building activities (IMO, Interpol, UNODC, European Union via EU NAVFOR and CRIMARIO, ReCAAP, US Africom, One Earth Future, ISS Africa, University of Copenhagen, Red Cross).
Following the opening speeches, the workshop consisted of ten modules addressing aspects of the current regional framework, technical issues and the future of the Code. Modules featured presentations by participants and observer delegations, open interactive discussions and detailed consideration in working groups.
In his presentation of CRIMARIO, the coordinator emphasized the synergies with MASE, the other European programme dedicated to maritime security, and the constructive role of IORIS as an operational tool for sharing maritime information and managing events at sea.
The participants discussed the current architecture of information sharing centres in the region designed under the Code and agreed to conduct a neutral assessment of the functions and capacity requirements of the three DCoC information sharing centres. In addition, some signatory States had requested to use the Jeddah Maritime Information Sharing Centre. Similarly, signatory States acknowledged the contribution of the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) in Madagascar and the Regional Coordination and Operations Centre (RCOC) in the Seychelles. In the interim, 5 DCoC(J) signatory states have requested an access to IORIS platform with more expected to follow soon, and this will be activated in the coming weeks.
The participants were invited to visit the Jeddah Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) and the new Jeddah Information Sharing Centre (ISC).
More information:
Press release 