3rd Ministerial Conference on Maritime Safety and Security: Advancing Regional Collaboration and Strengthening Security Architecture
In a collective effort to fortify, deepen, and extend the Regional Maritime Security Architecture, the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Maritime Safety and Security in the Western Indian Ocean convened on Thursday, November 16, 2023, in Balaclava, Mauritius. The primary objective of this international gathering, organized by the Republic of Mauritius with the backing of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), was to foster partnerships that would enhance the region’s Maritime Safety and Security Architecture, effectively countering crimes and threats at sea.
Attended by over thirty states and organizations, the conference aimed to review the progress made in implementing recommendations from the preceding ministerial meetings and evaluate accomplishments in the maritime safety and security domain.
Participants unanimously acknowledged the significant value added by the Regional Maritime Security Architecture, implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) through the Regional Maritime Security Programme (MASE), funded by the European Union. The conference emphasized the urgent need for its full operationalization, reinforcement, and expansion to include African organizations in the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Guinea, as well as the Indian Ocean and the Pacific (India, Singapore, Japan, Australia, etc.).
Grounded in the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) in Madagascar and the Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC) in Seychelles, the Regional Maritime Security Architecture establishes a structural framework. This enables the seven signatory countries of the MASE Agreements (Comoros, Djibouti, France/Reunion, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles) to collaborate, exchange information, and conduct coordinated operations, while facilitating external partners in creating synergies.
The demonstrated achievements thus far have been convincing, evident in numerous joint operations conducted at sea by the RCOC and the RMIFC in close collaboration with various partners, including Operation EUNAVFOR – Atalanta and the British Naval Forces, addressing various maritime safety and security challenges.
The 21 signatory States of the Djibouti Code of Conduct/Jeddah Amendment (DCoC/JA) have collectively agreed to integrate the RMIFC and the RCOC into their regional cooperation mechanism, thereby expanding the regional maritime security architecture and fostering new synergies. Similarly, the Contact Group on Illicit Maritime Activities (CGIMA, formerly CGPCS) has shown renewed interest in the architecture, signaling a significant convergence to ensure coherence and amplify ongoing actions. Dr. Vêlayoudom Marimoutou, the Secretary-General of the Indian Ocean Commission, underscored, “This is a clear recognition of the practical usefulness, relevance, and reliability of our Regional Maritime Security Architecture.”
The Ministerial Conference also revealed plans for the upcoming launch of the Safe Seas Africa program, funded by the European Union, with a component to be implemented by the IOC. Encompassing a broader spectrum of maritime security, this program will interconnect existing architectures and mechanisms across the Gulf of Guinea, the Western Indian Ocean, and the Western Pacific. Additionally, it will assist regional states in developing national strategies, legal frameworks, and internal mechanisms to achieve minimum maritime capacity for effective actions at sea.
Adapting to various maritime challenges requires a focus on innovation and organization. States are increasingly mobilizing, and organizations and mechanisms are collaborating. New platforms, such as the African Coastguard Forum outlined in the Moroni “Blue Future” Declaration in June 2023, received widespread support at the conference. The inaugural edition of this forum and a new Maritime Pollution Simulation exercise, following the MASEPOLREX23 exercise in October, are scheduled to take place in Kenya in 2024.
