A five-month intelligence operation spanning 34 countries and all oceans by Interpol revealed learned that the current depletion of marine living resources is driving a surge in fisheries-related crime. Operation Ikatere, the one-month tactical phase of the entire operation was supported by Interpol’s Fisheries Crime Working Group. It detected more than 100 cases of fisheries […]
Maersk, the world’s second-largest shipping line by container capacity, committed to a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per transported container by 2030. A commitment of such a large proportion, by a major industry player, in a ‘hard-to-abate’ sector could encourage fellow shipping companies as well as other entities within the supply-chain to explore net-zero […]
With a 52% fall in the number of piracy and armed robbery incidents in the Gulf of Guinea in 2020, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Assembly urged governments to continue to cooperate with and assist States in the Gulf of Guinea to develop their national and regional capabilities to improve maritime governance in waters under […]
At the 8th Indian Ocean Dialogue on Post Pandemic Indian Ocean, India advocated its vision of SAGAR as a bedrock to establish trust, transparency, respect for international maritime rules, equal access as a right under the international law, peaceful resolution of the dispute and enhanced maritime cooperation. SAGAR could play a vital role in deterring […]
Japan, India’s QUAD partner, has been expanding its maritime engagement with Southeast Asia. It has augmented the capacity of the Philippine Coast Guard by supplying it with its second multi-role response vessel (MRRV). Parallelly, it has upgraded its defence ties with Vietnam by signing the ‘Japan-Vietnam Defense Cooperation at the New Level’. Further, this year’s […]
The Indian Navy, which has played a large role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in the Asia-Pacific since the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, is finalising a standard operating procedure (SOP) for dealing with natural disasters in the region. The creation of an SOP for natural disasters comes shortly after the Navy […]
Shortly after participating in Foreign Minister-level discussion with the UAE, the US and Israel on maritime security, among many other issues, India joined the 34-member Combined Maritime Force (CMF) based in Bahrain. These two initiatives demonstrate India’s enthusiasm to be an active participant in various strategic platforms to secure the Indian Ocean Region against maritime […]
The conduct of Phase II of the MALABAR 2021 maritime exercise, in the Bay of Bengal, intends to enhance integrated maritime operations between the QUAD countries within the Indian Ocean Region. Manoeuvres by the French Navy’s signals intelligence vessel Dupuy-de-Lôme in the Taiwan Strait indicates growing opposition to Chinese military intimidation and strengthens the argument […]
The exchange of white shipping information between the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) near New Delhi and the Maritime Security Center (MSC) in Muscat, shows consistency of effort by India to “enhance maritime safety and security in the region”. Such a high-technology approach to detect and deter maritime security threats in the Indian Ocean […]
The removal of Kenyan maritime waters within the Indian Ocean from the piracy red list, 12 years after it was designated a high-risk area (HRA), represents the growing success of global efforts to combat piracy around the Horn of Africa. The seriousness of all stakeholders, which led to increased surveillance and joint maritime patrols by […]
Abstract International straits, by way of geography—resulting in their reference as ‘choke points’—and function, are a crucial component of the maritime domain. This is particularly true of the Indian Ocean Region within which India holds a prime position while being surrounded by ‘choke points’ on both its eastern and western seaboards. While these choke points […]
The introduction of the new economic security bill by Japan is being touted as a geopolitical tool to safeguard Tokyo’s cutting-edge technology from being exploited by the likes of Russia, China and North Korea. At the same time, it is also being promoted as a means to secure the domestic supply-chain of sensitive items such […]