The 18th Governing Council Meeting of the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (the Centre) was held from 12 to 15 March 2024 in Singapore, hosted by the Singapore Government. The Council Meeting was attended by the Governors/Governors’ Representatives of the 21 ReCAAP Contracting Parties.
About the event
The two-day Close Session meeting was conducted from 13-14 March 2024, while the Open Session, including the attendance of External Participants from 15 Partner Organisations and three States was held on 15 March 2024. The Council notes the addition of the National Maritime Foundation, Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region and Singapore Shipping Association as External Participants in this year’s meeting.
The Council re-elected the Governor of the Philippines and the Governor of Bangladesh as the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of ReCAAP ISC Governing Council respectively. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson each will serve another three-year term commencing 1 April 2024.
The Council took note of the nomination for the 7th Executive Director of ReCAAP ISC and the nomination period for candidates from the Contracting Parties starts on 1 April 2024 and ends on 31 May 2024.
The Council noted there were no incidents of piracy in Asia and abduction of
crew for ransom in the Sulu-Celebes Seas. However, a total of 100 incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported from January to December 2023, representing a 19% increase compared to 84 incidents reported in 2022. The Council also noted the collective efforts of the Contracting Parties and regional authorities to deter and respond to piracy and armed robbery against ships, including arresting perpetrators.
The Council reviewed ReCAAP ISC’s activities in FY 2023 and commended the Centre on the progress made under the three pillars of its mission (i.e. information 2 sharing, capacity building, and cooperative arrangements). In particular, the Council appreciated the Centre’s efforts in digitization, publishing contact details of MRCC and Law Enforcement Agencies, revised versions of the Focal Point Guide Book, and the Guide Book on Identification of Fishing Boats in Asian Waters, Enhanced Mobile Application for incident reporting, and developing the ReCAAP Data Visualisation Map and Panel (Re-VAMP), an interactive dashboard that allows users to correlate different datasets of incidents, derive insights and make informed risk assessments when planning a ship voyage through the areas of concern.
The Council approved ReCAAP ISC’s one-year work for FY 2024, which includes the strategic review of the Centre’s Information Technology systems, strengthening the Centre’s data analytics capability, and conducting capacity building programs to enhance the competence and capability of the Focal Points/Contact Point in incident reporting, information sharing, and operational response by the law enforcement agencies.
The Council also reviewed the Centre’s three-year work plan from FY 2024 to FY 2026, and approved the budget for FY 2024.
The Council noted the Centre’s external engagement with Partner Organizations in 2023, namely the Piracy and Sea Robbery Conference, the Maritime Roundtable, the Nautical Forum, Dialogue Sessions, and participation in other maritime agencies’ conferences, summits, and forums, in addressing the importance of timely information sharing and operational response by the law enforcement agencies towards the arrest of the perpetrators.
The Council also noted the future the direction of cooperative arrangements for FY 2024, in engagements that have greater potential in bringing together the shipping industry, maritime community as well as the regional and international authorities to suppress the incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia.
The Council also noted the Capacity Building activities scheduled for FY 2024 to be held in China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Sri Lanka of engage the shipping industry, maritime stakeholders, and law enforcement agencies to synergize their efforts in combating piracy and armed robbery against ships.
The Council recognized the significance of cooperation with all Contracting Parties of ReCAAP and the Centre’s effort to further the operational cooperation with Indonesia and Malaysia. All Contracting Parties affirm their commitment to ReCAAP ISC’s mission of pursue safe and secure seas to facilitate the free flow of maritime trade and commerce.
The Council appreciated the financial contributions from ReCAAP Contracting Parties for the Centre’s activities in FY 2023 amounting to S$2,924,897.
The Council welcomes the secondment of staff to the Centre from People’s Republic of China, Republic of India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Republic of the Philippines and the Kingdom of Thailand.
The 18th Governing Council Meeting concluded with a lecture on “Maritime Cybersecurity and its Nexus with Piracy”, delivered by subject-matter-experts Professor Stephen J McCombie from the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) and Commander Dan Trimble from the US Coast Guard, during the Open Session of the Council Meeting, highlighting the growing importance of protecting ships from cyberattacks. The Council agreed to conduct the 19th Governing Council Meeting of the ReCAAP ISC from 10 to 14 March 2025 in Singapore.
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Source: ReCaap
