An IMO-led training exercise has been undertaken in Aden, Yemen to bolster port facility security in the Red Sea area.
The initiative is part of the EU-funded Regional Programme for Maritime Security (Red Sea Project).
It takes aim at ongoing threats to maritime security in the region, such as terrorism, piracy and transnational crime.
The workshop, which was attended by high-level port and law enforcement agencies, was the latest in a series of targeted activities implemented by the IMO under the Red Sea Project to strengthen security in the Port of Aden.
Its focus was the design and implementation of Port Facility Security Plans detailing the measures to be taken to address identified risks and minimise the potential for security breaches in the port, in addition to defining the roles and responsibilities of various agencies and security personnel.
Discussions stressed the importance of inter-agency cooperation and the role of security as a cornerstone for maritime development in Yemen and the wider Red Sea region.
The workshop took place under the framework of the Red Sea Project, which is funded by the European Union, and delivered through coordinated actions by the IMO, the International Criminal Police Organization, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, in support of the participating countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
