Courtesy Photo | Christoper Ipu, Kenyan International Liaison Officer to the Regional Coordination...... read more read more
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Story by Yvonne Levardi, U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs
During Cutlass Express 2024, the Indian Ocean Commission’s Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC) in Seychelles has worked with exercise planners to shape the exercise to synchronize operations in the mold of the RCOC’s standard procedures – so the training reinforces the way participants in the region currently organize and collaborate to address maritime security challenges.
This year, RCOC Director CAPT. Sam Gontier and officials at the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Center (RMIFC) in Madagascar brought two of the RMIFC’s International Liaison Officers, or ILOs, to the RCOC in the Seychelles to support the exercise. One of these liaison officers is Christopher Ipu, an RMIFC ILO from Kenya.
“A main focus is to strengthen our regional maritime operating procedures and interoperability with various stakeholders so we can enhance our maritime information sharing and operations at sea,” said Ipu. “Unfortunately, we don’t have Kenyan and Djiboutian ILOs present at the RCOC so it's important for us to be here for the exercise to bring the coordination piece.”
The RMIFC, along with the RCOC, forms part of a regional maritime security architecture for the Western Indian Ocean under the EU-funded Maritime Security in Eastern and Southern Africa and Indian Ocean (MASE) program.
Both Ipu and Habon Mohamed Elmi, RMIFC ILO from Djibouti, have extensive backgrounds in maritime security. Ipu represents the Kenyan Navy and Elmi works in the Djibouti Maritime Affairs Department. Both understand the importance of information sharing and networking with regional partners.
“It’s important to have the shared (exercise) experience between us because some countries operate differently,” Elmi said. “So now, for example with the current exercise inject, we talk together to find a good way to resolve the issues; it's important to learn from and get best practices from each other.”
The RMIFC is staffed by liaison officers from each of the different MASE agreement countries: Comoros, Djibouti, France, Kenya, Djibouti, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. The officers pull information from their respective country’s maritime operations center, analyze that information, and send information that might need to be actioned to the RCOC. The EU-MASE program also supports the deployment of assets for regional maritime operations.
“Previously we were trying to address these issues as individual states and now we understand that coming together to address these issues as a region offers more opportunities for success,” Ipu said. “One way to do this is to pool resources, and each country is contributing assets so we can have a wider area of coverage and contribute toward better regional security.”
The centers were established in 2018 following the signing of two agreements focused on information exchange and joint operations at sea. Working closely together, the centers support maritime security in the region with the RMIFC, sharing information with the RCOC, which then coordinates regional operations to combat illicit maritime activities with the support of assets contributed by regional signatories to the mechanism.
These threats include illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUUF), oil bunkering, smuggling, and piracy.
Cutlass Express helps reinforce the understanding that this collective approach is the best strategy to address these threats and more. Liaison officers, including Ipu and Elmi, recognize the value multilateral opportunities like Cutlass Express bring to regional operations and to their ability to work across national and service boundaries. These efforts deepen partnership efforts not only during the exercise, but throughout the year as well.
“For me, an important takeaway from the exercise is meeting people from different countries and networking with people in the maritime field,” Elmi said. “For example, meeting the participant from Mozambique, Tanzania and Somalia. (At the RMIFC) we don't have a (liaison officer) from these countries, but now if we need to contact someone from there, now I have a contact.”
The U.S. shares a common interest with African partner nations in ensuring security, safety, and freedom of navigation on the waters surrounding the continent, because these waters are critical for Africa’s prosperity and access to global markets.
For over 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.
Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the USEUCOM and USAFRICOM areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.
For more information on Cutlass Express, visit https://www.c6f.navy.mil/, https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/cutlassexpress2024, & https://twitter.com/usnavyEurope/.
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.07.2024 11:52 |
| Story ID: | 465586 |
| Location: | SC |
| Web Views: | 162 |
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