NEW DELHI: Expanding the network of information sharing to further the existing cooperation in maritime safety and security, the Indian Navy-affiliated IFC-IOR signed an MoU with the Seychelles-based Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC) on Wednesday.
The IFC-IOR (Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region) is a regional maritime centre hosted by the Navy. The Indian Navy, in a statement, said, “The MoU signed by Capt Rohit Bajpai, Director, IFC-IOR and Capt Sam Gontier, Director, RCOC aims to promote collaboration between the two Centres towards enhancing maritime domain awareness, information sharing and expertise development.”
During the MoU signing, both the directors of RCOC and IFC-IOR unanimously upheld the need to enhance information sharing and analysis to cue actions at sea. The directors highlighted that ‘this MoU will enhance trust and improve synergy between the centres towards furthering collaborative maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean Region’, as per the statement.
The High Commissioner of India to Seychelles and senior officers of the IFC-IOR and RCOC participated in the signing. IFC-IOR is tasked to collate, fuse and disseminate intelligence on ‘White Shipping’ in the Indian Ocean.
Since its inception, IFC-IOR has established linkages with several multinational maritime security centres and the current initiative will enable deeper collaboration between the two centres. This approach will allow the centres to develop a common maritime understanding to counter non-traditional maritime security threats such as piracy and armed robbery, human and contraband trafficking, Illegal Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, arms smuggling, poaching, terrorism – with a special focus on the Western Indian Ocean. The RCOC and the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC), in Seychelles, are a part of the maritime defence architecture in the Western Indian Ocean.
Keeping an eye on Indian Ocean