MSCHOA

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Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa)

Martime Security Centre  (Horn of Africa)

With up to 95% of EU member state’s trade (by volume) transported by sea and 20% of Global Trade passing through the Gulf of Aden, EU NAVFOR provide considerable focus to safeguard trade through this strategic area.

The Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSC-HOA) is an initiative established by EU NAVFOR with close co-operation from industry. The MSC-HOA centre provides 24 hour manned monitoring of vessels transiting through the Gulf of Aden whilst the provision of an interactive website enables the Centre to communicate the latest anti-piracy guidance to industry and for Shipping Companies and operators to register their movements through the region.

A further initiative is the introduction of Group Transits where vessels are co-ordinated to transit through high risk areas overnight when attacks are reduced. This enables military forces to ‘sanitise’ the area ahead of the merchant ships. MSCHOA will also identify particularly vulnerable shipping and coordinate appropriate protection arrangements, either from within EU NAVFOR, or other forces in the region.

Finally in between routine or baseline operations, EU NAVFOR conducts focused operations aimed at achieving specific effects within a given area or time window. By concentrating forces to achieve specific effects EU NAVFOR can provide influence, deterrence or insight into legitimate and illicit activities in order to better co-ordinate future activities to deter piracy and armed robbery and thus reassure legitimate merchant mariners.

Further Information

http://www.mschoa.org - Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa)