United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO)

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Latest News

A tanker was boarded by six armed people who took control of the vessel and diverted it towards Somalia, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said recently.

About United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations 

• It is a British Royal Navy-sponsored organisation that was formed in 2001 with an office in Dubai to handle distress calls during maritime security threats. 
• In 2014, it was moved to Portsmouth in the U.K. 
• It is the primary point of contact for commercial vessels with military forces in the region.  
• For its scale of operations, the UKMTO is a lean organisation with a team of 15 civilian ‘watchkeepers’ and three managers. 
• The team, which works in shifts, takes calls from ship masters irrespective of their nationalities and coordinates rescue responses and issues warnings and advisories. 
• The UKMTO works in West Asia and the Indian Ocean Region through an information framework agreement and operates a “Voluntary Reporting Scheme (VRS) within the Voluntary Reporting Area (VRA)” outlined in a maritime security chart.
• This zone stretches to almost 2.5 million sq. miles of the ocean and includes the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, a majority of the northwestern Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, and the Persian Gulf. 
• The UKMTO has three 24/7 phone lines and an e-mail to report emergencies or incidents. 
• Ship masters are requested to file multiple reports — an initial report when entering the VRA, a daily report while transiting the area, and a final report after exiting the VRA or reaching a port. 
• UKMTO issues several categories of communication to the maritime community.  These are in the form of Warnings, Advisories, Reports, and Records of Maritime Information Exchange Meetings. 
• The UKMTO hosts all warnings on its website as well as hosting notices from partner organisations.

News: TP

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