Ukraine joined the regional seminar on maritime security in Varna

Topics include protection of underwater infrastructure, countering the “shadow fleet” and oil spill preparedness.

Representatives of the State Service of Maritime and Inland Water Transport and Shipping of Ukraine participated in a regional seminar on maritime security in Varna. This was reported by the Shipping Administration.

The two-day event was organized by the European External Action Service within the framework of the TAIEX instrument with the support of the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy. In addition to Ukraine, representatives of Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Moldova, Germany, Poland, Romania and Turkey joined it.

The topics covered institutional capacity building, establishing military-civilian and interagency cooperation, as well as developing strategies to counter hybrid threats at sea and other risks associated with Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.

Among the specific areas discussed by the participants were:

• physical protection of critical underwater infrastructure;

• international legal counteraction to the operation of the “shadow fleet”;

• preparedness for oil spills and other hazardous substances;

• monitoring of environmental risks associated with unexploded ordnance and wrecks;

• technical cooperation under the auspices of the European Maritime Safety Agency within the framework of the BCSEA and IPA projects.

The Ukrainian delegation joined expert discussions on the security of ships and port facilities in accordance with the instruments of the International Maritime Organization. Separately, the establishment of a Ukrainian Joint Maritime Coordination Center with the assistance of the EU Advisory Mission to Ukraine was discussed.

The seminar fits into the broader logic of the EU’s strategic approach to the Black Sea region, which envisages the creation of a Black Sea Maritime Security Hub. Its four key areas are strengthening maritime security, protecting critical maritime infrastructure, developing member states’ capabilities to monitor it, and expanding cooperation between coast guards in the region.