On the 6 – 8 of June, Maldives National Defence Force together with the Sri Lanka Coast Guards and the Sri Lanka Navy participated in a Command Post Exercise organised by the project, which was conducted with the support of the IORIS platform.
During the exercise, suspects ships passed from one Exclusive Economic Zone to another, conducting illegal activities (IUU Fishing).
Participants had to locate the activities and build an action plan that could include overt or covert surveillance, handover, interdiction, and/or VBSS (Visit, board, search, and seizure).
During the exercise, all participants implemented procedures and conducted operations as necessary to respond to the simulated crisis, respecting national capabilities under real-time weather conditions and taking into consideration legal frameworks in force in the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
The prime exercise communications channel used was IORIS, which proved to be a very useful tool to exchange information in real time, enabling coordination and communications via a secure encrypted online environment being a means that facilitate analysis, planning and coordination during maritime operations.
During the debriefing participants comments positively the experience and asked to have “more frequently, if possible once a month such exercises to get better acquainted using the platform and revising, when needed, agencies standard operational procedures”.