| Code: 37380 |

Updated revised West Africa HRA and Voluntary Reporting Area

TIN news:      The Republic of the Marshall Islands has issued Ship Security Advisory to advise the following (based on information received from the Security Association for SAMI, Salama Fikira Group Limited, and tMTISC-GoG):
 
The Administrator is bringing its previously-defined West Africa/Gulf of Guinea high risk area (HRA) in line with the recently established voluntary reporting area (VRA) depicted within the UK Hydrographic Office's Maritime Security Chart for West Africa.
 
West African voyage information should now be reported to the MTISC-GoG which has been established to maintain and share an accurate picture of the West African maritime domainthrough a 24-hour monitoring centre based in Accra, Ghana.
 
The intention of the MTISC-GoG is to act as a unified reporting body for West Africa, serving as a primary point of contact. Similar to UKMTO/MSCHOA reporting for the Indian Ocean HRA, this initiative will facilitate the consolidation of West Africa HRA information and allow relevant authorities to be informed of an incident in a timely manner.
 
Utilizing the newly defined West Africa HRA, theAdministrator has created a zone notification system using the Marshall Islands LRIT National Data Center (MI NDC) which will automatically notify the Company Security Officer (CSO) via email when an RMI registered vessel is in close proximity to and heading toward the West Africa HRA/VRA.
 
The zone notification email will serve as a pre-warning and is intended to help CSOs remind Masters to comply with Best Management Practices (BMP) / Guidelines for Owners, Operators and Masters for protection against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and to begin reporting to MTISC-GoG as a vessel enters and transits the West Africa HRA/VRA.
 
With respect to Navigational Areas (NAVAREAs), Masters of vessels inside the HRA/VRAshould ensure that their Inmarsat C terminals are set to receive navigational warnings from both NAVAREA II (France) and NAVAREA VII (South Africa) so that they receive all relevant navigational warnings.
 
It is strongly recommended that all RMI registered vessels transiting the HRA/VRA maintain asetting of MARSEC Security Level II (or equivalent security measures). The Administrator also recommends all RMI registered vessels report to MTISC-GoG using the standardized reporting formats.

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