The Regional Programme for Maritime Security in the Red Sea Area (‘Red Sea Project’) has been launched at the Djibouti Regional Training Centre (10 February).

The project, funded by the European Union, focuses on supporting Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen across four key areas of maritime security:

· domestication of international maritime legislation

· implementation of maritime security measures

· development of a port security management system

· and port State control compliance.

The launch follows a six-month inception phase, during which the project team met remotely with the main stakeholders of each beneficiary country to agree on tailored workplans. Implementation is now underway, starting with legal gap analyses and assistance to maritime authorities in ratifying or strengthening the implementation of relevant regional agreements on Port State Control.

IMO joined the other implementing partners The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, EU and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) at the launch event.