Mission and objectives

CRIMARIO is a maritime capacity building initiative established in 2015. The project, funded by the European Union, contributes towards enhancing Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) through information sharing, capacity building and training in the West Indian Ocean. 

CRIMARIO, which stands for “Critical Maritime Routes Indian Ocean”, seeks to enhance maritime security and safety in the Indo-Pacific by offering support to the region so it develops its own MDA and law enforcement capacities. 

The project aims at:  

• Enhancing information exchange and analysis;
• Crisis and incident management;
• Strengthening inter-agency cooperation in maritime surveillance, policing, investigation and judicial matters.

In 2020 the project was extended for five more years, with its geographical scope also enlarged to include the Indo Pacific, following the EU Indo Pacific strategy adopted in 2021. 

CRIMARIO II focuses on enhancing cooperation and complementarity amongst regional Information Fusion Centres (IFCs), national Maritime Operations Centres (MOC), National Maritime Information Sharing Centres / Joint Operations Centres (NMISC / JOC), regional actors (IMO/DCOC, UNODC, IOC, ASEAN, IORA, RECAAP), fora (such as IONS) and third countries (EU Members States and partners such as India, Japan, USA, Australia).

Today the project engages with its traditional partners (Eastern African and Western Indian Ocean countries) and builds new partnerships with countries in South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America, and also India, Japan, USA and Australia.