SL demonstrates commitment to combating maritime piracy and armed robbery

Demonstrating strong commitment to combat maritime piracy and armed robbery at sea in the region, Sri Lanka along with twenty other countries took part in a symposium and a high level meeting held to commemorate the 10th  anniversary of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) in Singapore on 18 March.

The Sri Lankan delegation, led by State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene, included the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne, senior naval officers, and officials from the Ministry of Defense.

Participants at the High Level Meeting, chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Don Pramudwinai, discussed issues surrounding maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia focusing on strengthening regional cooperation and coordination among governmental agencies and industry, and enhancing partnerships, among others.

The ReCAAP, a multi-lateral agreement among 20 countries, remains the first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery in Asia. It was finalised on 11 November 2004 and entered into force on 4 September 2006.

The twenty Contracting Parties to ReCAAP are Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Denmark, India, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar, The Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Vietnam.

The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC) was established under the Agreement, and was officially launched in Singapore on 29 November 2006. It was formally recognised as an international organisation on 30 January 2007.

At the 10th Governing Council Meeting of the ReCAAP ISC which was held from 15-17 March 2016 in Singapore and hosted by the Singapore Government, Governors from the ReCAAP countries commended the ReCAAP ISC on achieving further milestones in research and analysis, capacity building, engagement and co-operation with other organisations with interests in combating piracy and armed robbery against ships.

Both the High Level Meeting and the Symposium had been successfully concluded with valuable deliverables, high level representations from Member Countries, and a large number of attendance from the maritime community at the Symposium demonstrating ReCAAP’s strong relevance to the regional and international maritime community.