Between the 10th and the 14th of July, Crimario II organised the first crisis management workshop in Mahè, with participants from the Maldives National Defence Force Coast Guards.
Managing risks at sea, is becoming more and more important as global trade is the lifeblood of the maritime industry and the shipping industry is responsible for transporting and delivering more than 95% of global trade; furthermore, over 80% of the volume of international trade in goods is carried by sea.
Life on board entails risks and therefore elaborate safety plans and training exercises need to be often reviewed and rehearsed to address potential crisis situations.
Many elements need to be taken into consideration when an unexpected event threatens security at sea: the threat itself, the element of surprise, the short decision time, the need for change.
All those aspects were discussed during the training organised by CRIMARIO II, which was structured around theoretical sessions, exchanges of best practices in the management of exceptional maritime situations, and role-playing exercises.
In the words of one trainee: “This has been a very enlightening experience; we learned new things on how to manage a crisis and we hope there will be in the near future other training”.
The course culminated in a major tabletop exercise involving the activation of a maritime crisis cell.
During the closing ceremony, Mohamed Rizmy Waleed, Principal director of the Maldivian Coast Guard concluded: “We are grateful to CRIMARIO for organising the training, which we benefited from, and hope to continue working with the project as interagency cooperation is essential for safe and secure seas.”
Following a first maritime crisis management workshop in the Maldives, a second training was organised by CRIMARIO between the 17 and the 21 of July in Colombo, with the participation of Sri Lankan navy and coastguards’ officers.
The workshop was structured around theoretical sessions, exchanges of best practices in the management of exceptional maritime situations, and role-playing exercises.
At the request of local authorities, CRIMARIO trainers organised a working session on the theme of “Mass Rescue”, which focused on planning, anticipation, and operational response to such situations, and on managing this type of crisis at a strategic level.
Finally, participants concluded the week with a tabletop crisis exercise of considerable scope: the scenario was drafted by the project trainers with the participation of Sri Lankan national organisation.