Singapore: Effective training and mentoring for coastguards in southeast Asia is essential in order to have control over territorial waters and economic zones, maritime security company Maritime Asset Security & Training (MAST) says.
“This is not just about Somalia. Coastal nations in other piracy-prone areas such as west Africa and southeast Asia are being encouraged to police their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, and will benefit from mentoring in how to do so more effectively,” Gerry Northwood OBE, COO of MAST, said in a statement.
Coastguards need to be able to implement a “more sophisticated and layered application of maritime security”, MAST says. This includes utilising and integrating both air and sea assets such as surface vessels, helicopters and fixed wing surveillance aircrafts.
Critical information also needs to be share among networked operations centres, he continued.
Northwood noted that Indonesia and Malaysia have been highly pro-active and have already made significant steps to improve their maritime capabilities, but more needs to be done.
“Non-military solutions such as national coastguard agencies require improved capabilities and capacities if they are to become a sustainable solution. An integrated approach, including international public-private cooperation to maintain border security and safeguard the maritime flank is the way forward,” said Richard Battrick, director of training, compliance and ordnance management at MAST. [26/01/15]
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