UN Maritime Agency Commissions Kenya Piracy Information Center

LONDON (Dow Jones)–The first of three information-sharing centers, or ISCs, has been commissioned in Kenya, to facilitate practical measures to suppress piracy in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, the United Nations’ maritime agency said Friday.

Two additional centers have been set up Dar es Salam, Tanzania and San’a, Yemen.

“The centers have been established to facilitate practical measures for the suppression of piracy and armed robbery against ships, by ensuring the coordinated, timely, and effective flow of information,” the International Maritime Organization, or IMO, said in a statement.

The Mombasa ISC will be co-housed with the Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, which operates on a 24-hour basis and covers extensive areas of the western Indian Ocean, the IMO said.

The Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and Kenya will all report to the Mombasa ISC.

The Mombasa ISC will exchange information concerning the movement of pirates with the centers in San’a and Dar es Salam, as well as with the European Union Naval Force, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations and the Maritime Liaison Office Bahrain, the IMO said.

-By Neena Rai, Dow Jones Newswires

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