ICG to co-host Capacity Building workshop on combating piracy and armed robbery

The ReCAAP is the first regional Government-to-Government agreement to deal with piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) will be co-hosting 12th Capacity Building workshop with Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre (ISC) here on June 19-20, 2019.

The ReCAAP is the first regional Government-to-Government agreement to deal with piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia. Presently 20 countries are members of ReCAAP. India played an active role in the setting up and functioning of ReCAAPISC along with Japan and Singapore. Union Government has designated ICG as the focal point within India for ReCAAP. India has hosted this workshop earlier in November 2011 at Goa and December 2017 at New Delhi.

Information sharing, capacity building and mutual legal assistance are the three pillars of co-operation under the ReCAAP agreement. An ISC has been established at Singapore to collate and disseminate the information among the contracting parties and the maritime community. Capacity building workshop is organised annually by the ISC and is co-hosted by one of the contracting parties. The main objective of this workshop is to share the updated situation of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia and best practices of Asian countries. The workshop also aims to deepen the knowledge of participants on various issues related to piracy and armed robberies such as international laws, prosecution process, forensics and emerging threats.

A total of 31 International delegates from 19 countries will be participating in the workshop. In addition, officials from national stakeholders like major ports, state maritime boards, state marine police, Directorate General of Shipping and Indian National Ship-Owners Association are also participating in this workshop.

(With Inputs from PIB)