Cooperation Protocol in maritime and aeronautical search and rescue.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Finnish Border Guard and the Swedish Coast Guard which defines bilateral cooperation between the two organizations in areas such as Maritime environmental response and surveillance, Maritime border surveillance, Maritime crime prevention, Technical cooperation, Training and education and Judicial matters.

The SWEDENGER Agreement is a joint response plan between Sweden, Denmark and Germany for dealing with maritime incidents involving Oil and other Harmful Substances and Co-operation in Aerial Surveillance in the Western Baltic Sea Area.

SUCBAS is a cornerstone for sea surveillance, information exchange and co-operation within the Baltic Sea area and its approaches. The aim of the co-operation is to enhance Maritime Situational Awareness benefiting maritime safety, security, environmental and law enforcement activities in the region by sharing relevant maritime data, information and knowledge between the participants. The SUCBAS cooperation comprises Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and United Kingdom. The initiative is led by the navies of these countries. In recognition of the fact that responsibility for of maritime surveillance, maritime safety, maritime security, the maritime environment and maritime law enforcement are implemented differently in each country, SUCBAS information is shared among national governmental institutions with a maritime responsibility regardless if civil or military, at their discretion.

The Ministry of Transport and Maritime Economy in Poland and the Maritime Administration in Sweden signed this agreement on Aeronautical and Maritime SAR Co-operation in Stockholm on 10.06.1998.

The Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the FAO supports all efforts to promote Blue Growth - with its emphasis on reconciling social and economic development with environmental performance - to all fisheries and aquaculture policies. It promotes and supports the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, in addition to providing scientific advice, strategic planning, and training materials. It serves as a neutral forum to discuss issues related to international cooperation and multistakeholder approaches. The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) used by the FAO is the appropriate and practical way to implement the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

German authorities have established Memorandums of Understanding (MoU’s) on Joint Mutual Support for Maritime Search and Rescue with Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The German Maritime Search and Rescue Organisation (DGzRS), has put in place Operational Agreements with their respective counterparts in Denmark (Admiral Danish Fleet) the Netherlands (the Netherlands Coast Guard), Poland (Polish Ship Salvage), Sweden (Swedish Maritime Administration) and the UK (Her Majesty’s Coast Guard).

The overall objective of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism is to strengthen cooperation between the EU Member States and 6 Participating States in the field of civil protection, with a view to improve prevention, preparedness and response to disasters. When the scale of an emergency overwhelms the response capabilities of a country, it can request assistance via the Mechanism. The European Commission plays a key role in coordinating the response to disasters in Europe and beyond and contributes to at least 75% of the transport and/or operational costs of deployments. In addition to the EU Member States, the six participating states are Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Turkey.

The Paris MOU is based on the principle that the prime responsibility for compliance with the requirements laid down in the international maritime conventions lies with the ship-owner/operator. Responsibility for ensuring compliance remains with the flag State. It aims to eliminate the operation of sub-standard ships through a harmonized system of port State control. The members are Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

The Plan aims to identify the status of SAR preparedness of EUR Region States and State SAR arrangements. It also makes recommendations for SAR planning and preparedness enhancements, in terms of compliance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Annex 12, the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual guidance, and accepted best international practice. It provides recommendations to IMO for harmonised and interoperable delivery of both aeronautical and maritime SAR services. It requires regular updating to keep current with changes in ICAO Annexes and guidance material, the IAMSAR Manual, regional aviation activity, developments in ATM system, new technology, political considerations, as well as human performance lessons learned from actual SAR responses.

IALA is a non-profit, international technical association. Established in 1957, it gathers marine aids to navigation authorities, manufacturers, consultants, and, scientific and training institutes from all parts of the world to exchange and compare their experiences and achievements. IALA members work together to harmonise aids to navigation worldwide and to ensure that the movements of vessels are safe, expeditious and cost effective. A number of technical committees were established to bring together experts from around the world to work in specific areas e.g. needs of mariners, developments in technology, etc.