Comorian and Malagasy national authorities gained essential skills and knowledge to help ensure the security of their ports, following a series of International Maritime Organization (IMO) training activities held in Antananarivo, Madagascar from 9 to 19 July.
According to IMO, 24 personnel representing a range of government departments, ministries and agencies in Madagascar took part in an initial tabletop exercise followed by a National Maritime Security Committee (NMSC) workshop (9-12 July).
Participants were trained on what to do in high-risk scenarios such as entry of a ship in a port (ship reception), arrival of a ship with drugs, hijacking of a ship in transit at port, sabotage of a port facility, and dealing with stowaways.
The aim was to promote multi-agency collaboration and a whole-of-government approach in addressing national maritime security risks and strategies. The session supported the Madagascar maritime authority in developing a National Maritime Security Committee structure to support such collaboration.
The tabletop exercise and the NMSC workshop were followed by a regional workshop (15-19 July) focused on effective implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, through self-assessments and audits.
The ISPS Code contains mandatory maritime security measures required for international shipping. The workshop covered both theoretical and practical training on how to carry out audits and self-assessments to evaluate how effectively a Member State is fulfilling its obligations under the Code.
The 24 participants included Port Facility Security Officers and representatives of the respective Designated Authorities of Comoros and Madagascar (Agence Portuaire Maritime Fluviale for Madagascar and Agence Nationale des Affaires Maritimes for Comoros).
They discussed how to plan, prepare and conduct audits as well as draft audit reports. This is to ensure that ISPS Code requirements are implemented effectively within the port facilities in Madagascar and Comoros, while promoting a coordinated and standardized approach across the region.
Both training activities were delivered under the Port Security Project funded by the European Union.
