Africa-Press – Seychelles. The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) conducted a consultation with regional and international actors to strengthen the common and coordinated response of the States of the region to potential marine pollution incidents. This meeting is organized within the framework of the maritime safety program “MASE” implemented by the IOC with funding from the European Union.
Faced with the risks of pollution at sea, the consequences of which go beyond national borders, it is essential to have approved frameworks for regional cooperation, more particularly in a coastal and island zone as vast and borrowed as the South-West Indian Ocean. The regional consultation meeting falls within the environmental protection mandate of the MASE program of the IOC and also supports the implementation of the regional contingency plan under the aegis of the Nairobi Convention for the protection, management and development of the marine and coastal environment in the Western Indian Ocean.
The main objectives of the meeting were:
– Engage in discussions and collective reflections on the level of preparation and the response capacity of the region in the face of the risks of maritime pollution,
– Reviving the discussion on the regional cooperation mechanism backed by the Regional Marine Pollution Contingency Plan and defining the roles and responsibilities of each actor at the national and regional level in this mechanism
“Maritime pollution incidents cannot be handled by a single country, which is why this consultation encourages all regional and international players to contribute”, underlined Mr. Raj Mohabeer, economics, interests islanders, connectivity and maritime security at the Indian Ocean Commission.
This meeting is the logical continuation of the regional marine pollution simulation exercise (WIOPOLREX), organized last July by the Regional Centers for the Coordination of Operations (CRCO) and the Fusion of Maritime Information (CRFIM). A marine pollution simulation field exercise will soon be organized in Mauritius with the aim of testing the regional coordination mechanism.
The meeting of 29 and 30 August brought together the States of the Indian Ocean (Member States of the IOC, Yemen), of Southern and Eastern Africa (Kenya, Djibouti, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania) which are signatories of the Nairobi Convention. Representatives from the RCCO and the RMIFC, the Nairobi Convention Secretariat and partners such as the Delegation of the European Union to Mauritius, the Embassy of the United States, the Maritime Security Authority of South Africa (SAMSA) , the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Australian High Commission also took part in this work.
Covering 15 States in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, the MASE maritime security program aims to strengthen regional maritime security with the establishment of a regional maritime security architecture based on regional mechanisms for exchange of information and coordination of operations at sea. The program contributes to creating a secure regional environment conducive to the development of the blue economy of the countries bordering the Western Indian Ocean. The MASE program is implemented by the IOC, IGAD, COMESA and EAC with funding from the European Union.
Source: nation
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