SCG officers, special forces unit take part in UK Royal Navy maritime training |04 August 2021

Special Forces and Coast Guard on small vessel during the exercise

Twenty-twoSeychellois maritime professionals from the Seychelles Coast Guard and Special Forces Unit are this weektaking part in a ‘Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure’capacity-building exercise and small craft coxswain course being delivered by six trainers from the UK Royal Navy’s International Training Team.

The training forms part of ‘Exercise Cutlass Express’, which is the annual maritime exercise conducted by the United States’ Naval Forces Africa (Navaf).

The exercise aims to improve regional cooperation and maritime domain awareness and information sharing between maritime operation centres, maritime interdiction, adherence to the rule of law, and counter-proliferation interdiction capabilities in order to fight illicit maritime activities and strengthen safety and security in East Africa.

The ‘Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure’ (VBSS) training course teaches the students how to work in an eight-person team and conduct a boarding of a vessel when underway at sea. If the vessel is suspected of illegal activity, the boarding team is taught how to conduct a thorough search and, if necessary, seize the vessel and crew for further investigation.

The coxswain course is designed to teach students how to manoeuvre a craft when approaching another vessel at sea and allow the boarding team to safely transfer across. It also covers navigation and engine maintenanceto ensure each coxswain can prepare and safely manoeuvre their craft for operations in open waters.

The UK Royal Navy’s International Training Team (UK RNITT)is supported by officers from the International Criminal Police Organisation(Interpol) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), who will be trainingstudents on the gathering and handling of evidence to support a successful prosecution and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The team also ensures that individual human rights feature prominently as part of the training.

Earlier in the year, the UK RNITT delivered a virtual training package on maritime operations planning to the Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC). Whilst the six-person team is in the Seychelles,it will be under the command of Major Renny Bulmer – a vastly experienced Royal Marine currently based at the British High Commission ‒who will shortly become the UK’s international liaison officer to the Indian Ocean Commission’s two regional maritime security centres.

Recent maritime engagement by the UK and other international partners in securing the Western Indian Ocean was driven by the advent of piracy off the coast of Somalia from around 2010 onwards.

At the peak of piracy in the region, the UK partnered with the government of Seychelles to provide support along each step of the criminal justice process that was handling piracy cases. This included: UK technical assistance in establishing the marine police unit, as well as the secondment of prison officers to the Montagne Posée prison, among other technical assistance measures.

Commenting on the UK’s commitment towards maritime security in the region, British Deputy High Commissioner, Matthew Harper, said:

“The delivery in Seychelles of another successful Cutlass Express exercise speaks not only of the importance the international community attaches to maritime security in this region, but also of the unique challenges that it faces.

“While the threat of piracy in the Western Indian Ocean may have receded, we have become increasingly aware of the challenges posed by illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, trafficking in persons and arms and perhaps most pressingly for Seychelles, trafficking in illicit narcotics.

“The UK is committed to working alongside Seychelles and with our regional partners, to combat these threats and to ensure the safety and security of the waters of this region.”

Press release from the British High Commission