Dear Readers,
A bit of a focus on West Africa this week, as the Nigerian Navy goes public to discuss its plans to deploy 16 vessels to oil installations in order to deter maritime crime and militant attacks. It comes in the same week as news that the Nigerian Navy has received 200 vessels in two years. On top of this news, Nigeria's Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has broken up a fuel smuggling and theft gang from Benin. The last thing the Nigerian economy needs at the moment is an increase in petro-crime, so this is good news for the country. In the India Ocean Region, the new EU CRIMARIO backed information sharing system, IORIS, has launched. It's intended to boost response to maritime crime and piracy, and we welcome the new initiative which will hopefully improve domain awareness among smaller nations. Talking of information sharing centres, Australia has announced plans for one covering their domain, too. More eyes means fewer crimes, hopefully. In news closer to home, Turkey and Ukraine have announced that their Coast Guards will patrol the Black Sea together, in an attempt to curb poaching and illegal fishing. We can expect more of this kind of thing in fisheries protection in the coming years.
Regards, David Rider Editor
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