Information Sharing to Fight Piracy and Illegal Fishing in Ghana
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Chris Trelawny has visited the Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre (MTISC-GoG), located in the Regional Maritime University of Accra, Ghana.
The multinational centre provides advice and information to merchant shipping operating in the Gulf of Guinea. At the time of the visit over 630 ships were exchanging information with the centre.
In recent months the centre has provided support to ships and authorities to assist in countering piracy and illegal fishing, as well as supporting search and rescue operations.
The watchkeeping staff who operate this centre come from the navies of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo, the Liberian Maritime Authority and from private companies and are supported by Merchant Navy liaison officers.
The centre is funded by the Oil Companies International Marine Forum, IMO Member Governments and by the IMO West and Central Africa Maritime Security Trust Fund.