In this context, the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Center (RMIFC) in Madagascar and the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA) have partnered to conduct the joint exercise RECOPORT-ESA 25, with IORIS serving as the main communication platform for all participants.

Starting on January 27, 2025, and lasting for a week, under the patronage of the Madagascar Minister of Transport and Meteorology, port security officers from the Eastern and Southern Africa – Indian Ocean region took part in a virtual simulation exercise at the RMFIC.[1]

The exercise simulated a range of maritime incidents, including stowaway situations requiring a coordinated response, contraband trafficking such as drug smuggling that called for regional enforcement cooperation, theft of goods or vessels within port areas, and illegal trafficking of wildlife and natural resources.

The primary goal of the exercise was to strengthen information-sharing practices among PMAESA member states, enhancing regional maritime security and economic cooperation. This is vital to improving maritime safety, facilitating trade, ensuring emergency preparedness, and ensuring regulatory compliance with international standards. Additionally, the exercise aimed to foster a proactive security culture and promote greater collaboration among member states to address maritime challenges.

Throughout the exercise, IORIS served as a secure web-based platform, enabling the seamless exchange of information across various agencies, both domestically and internationally. This marked the second deployment of IORIS in a port security-focused exercise—following its successful use in South America. This successful implementation further reinforces IORIS’s value as a critical tool for ports in the region.

In fact, by aggregating and analysing maritime data from multiple sources, including Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, satellite imagery, and user-generated reports, IORIS provides port authorities with enhanced situational awareness which allows port authorities to better assess and mitigate potential risks.

Moreover, at the regional level, IORIS also functions as a vital tool for connecting port authorities globally, as it facilitates the exchange of critical information about vessels arriving in their areas of responsibility and enables them to notify authorities at the “Next Port of Call” of any suspicious activities, thus enhancing regional cooperation and response capabilities.

The success of RECOPORT-ESA 25 underscores the vital role of ongoing collaboration and information sharing in maritime security. By strengthening regional partnerships and leveraging IORIS, port authorities can collectively enhance their ability to protect ports, prevent illicit activities, and ensure the safe and efficient flow of trade across the region.

To know more about the advantages IORIS offers for harbour and port operations: https://ioris.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/241029-IORIS_Brochure_HARBOUR_A4_V3.pdf

[1] The exercise saw the participation of RMIFC, PMAESA and member countries from the Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania, the lndian Ocean Commission (IOC), Port Security Project, the International Maritime Organisation, the International Labour Organisation, the Regional Coordination and Operations Centre  (RCOC), the Agence Portuaire Maritime et Fluvial (APMF), the  Centre de Fusion d’Informations Maritime, the Madagascar Customs and Navy, the European Union, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and INTERPOL, Djibouti, Mozambique Somalia and South Africa who participated as observers.

L’article Enhancing Port Security Through Information Sharing: The RECOPORT-ESA 25 Exercise est apparu en premier sur Crimario II.

The transfer of ownership was officially completed during a ceremony chaired by the Principal Secretary of State Department for Shipping and Maritime Affairs, Mrs Nancy Karigithu, with the official signature of the transfer of ownership between Julien Serre, Deputy Director of Peace, Stability and Security of Expertise France and Mrs Karigithu representing the JOC in presence of European Commission representative and CRIMARIO team.

The coastal network includes transponders installed at 4 remote sites and integrated into one central system based at Mombasa Port. The system is capable of integrating existing national AIS and other data sources if Kenya wish to expand the network capability in the future. Each site is connected to a main data centre located in Mombasa Port where the information feeds are processed by the JOC who coordinate the maritime surveillance and operations at sea. The system was designed by ELMAN Srl and installed by ELMAN and a local contractor, Amiran. The provision of the AIS project was managed and implemented by EU CRIMARIO project.

The Joint Operations Centre, hosted by Mombasa Port, was inaugurated in 2017 to coordinate multi-agency maritime border operations. According to the Principal Secretary Mrs Nancy Karigithu

“the JOC enables direct intervention and interdiction of the crimes as there is no blue economy if there is no maritime security”.

See the article published by the Star: EU Sh3 billion to boost maritime security, fight drugs 

The AIS launch ceremony was preceded by the closing event of CRIMARIO project attended by around 50 senior officials, and practitioners from the wide Indian Ocean region: the 5 partner countries (Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles), western Indian Ocean and South East Asia countries (Djibouti, India, Indonesia, Japan, Maldives, Malaysia, Somalia, Thailand).

Before the handover ceremony, the participants had the chance to take part to a presentation and a visit of the port of Mombasa that allows to understand and measure the major trend of modernisation of one of the largest and busiest East African port. As explained, the ongoing expansion of the Mombasa port with additional berths and container terminals will dramatically increase its container handling capacity and the volume of transit. Latest data from the Kenya Port Authority showed that Mombasa registered container traffic has a rate of increase of 8,6% from 2009 to 2018.

Download the press release 

L’article Kenya coastal AIS network equipped by European Union CRIMARIO project est apparu en premier sur Crimario II.

On this occasion, he announced a €7.9 million contribution to support the country’s priority to address unemployment and build an innovative Mauritius.

Commissioner Neven Mimica said: “The EU has a long-standing relationship with Mauritius, which we believe has made a difference in the country’s development success story. We stand ready to further support Mauritius and today’s €7.9 million programme shows our commitment. It will support employability, education and innovation, and will contribute to the Africa-Europe Alliance ultimate goal of creating sustainable jobs”.

[….] The €7.9 million programme signed with Mauritius today aims at:

• Improving the relevance of post-secondary and vocational training education in Mauritius to allow more young people from vulnerable groups to study.
• Enhancing applied research and innovation capacity by enabling collaboration between academia and industry. In particular, the programme will support the development of nanotechnology research. This should encourage further private investment and trigger the creation of high added-value jobs.

Commissioner Mimica also met the Secretary General of the Indian Ocean Commission, Hamada Madi, with whom he signed a €28 million regional programme to improve port security and safe navigation in the region.

Read the original press release in European Commission site  or in the EU Delegation to Mauritius

L’article Africa-Europe Alliance: Commissioner Mimica on official visit to Mauritius, a development success story est apparu en premier sur Crimario II.

Refurbishment of the 900-kilometre railway line connecting Nacala-a-Velha to the Moatize coal-mining area began in 2012 at a cost of about US$ 4.5 billion and included the construction of new sections and the rehabilitation of others both in Mozambique and in neighbouring Malawi.

Access to the original article published by Club of Mozambique

L’article Nacala port opening in Mozambique est apparu en premier sur Crimario II.

The $590 million Doraleh Multipurpose Port project started in 2015 was jointly financed by Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) and China Merchant Holding (CMHC) to connect Asia, Africa and Europe.

The port is one of four new ports in the Horn of Africa nation co-funded by China to establish Africa’s largest free-trade zone that can handle $7 billion of goods every year, a statement by the port authority said.

Access to the original article published by Africa News

L’article Inauguration of Doraleh multipurpose port est apparu en premier sur Crimario II.

Over the past decade, the majority of Africa’s port terminals have been handed over to private operators: the Continent now represents 5% of international maritime trade and 2% of global containerised traffic (pages 30-33). Most African container terminals are now managed under public-private partnership arrangements (pages 14-17) whose terms have been defined by the World Bank. Practically all of the ports that agreed to these investments have been able to make up for lost time in just a few years, both by adopting international standards to enhance their productivity and by boosting their profitability and competitiveness.

Now more than ever, the African port sector needs to step up and play a key role in the Continent’s development. This is why  Private Sector & Development is devoting an entire issue to the question, at a time when Africa seeks to benefit from the favourable trade winds of the new world order.

See the issue 26 of Private Sector & Development, published by Proparco

L’article African ports est apparu en premier sur Crimario II.

The European Union is considering investing at least $200 million (Sh20 billion) on Mombasa Port projects including modernisation of berths.

L’article EU invests in Mombasa port projects est apparu en premier sur Crimario II.