Participants will deliberate on key policy areas and opportunities to enhance cooperation from the east coast of Africa, across Asia and the Pacific to Latin America. Organisations and entities using IORIS will present a range of success stories, demonstrating the real-world impact of the IORIS platform. Notable examples include the interdiction of narcotics and other contraband, life-saving interventions during complex Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, and coordinated counter-piracy efforts, and addressing cooperation to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries.

The conference will launch the new IORIS platform, emphasising its user-friendliness and advanced functionalities, which has and will further facilitate seamless communication, coordination, and decision-making across diverse maritime stakeholders.

Opening the event, the EU Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro remarked: “This collaboration underscores the European Union’s enduring commitment to a peaceful, secure, and rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific, built on a foundation of the rule of law and respect for the UN Charter. We are proud to support regional partners in building capabilities that ensure freedom of navigation and maritime resilience.”

Martin Cauchi Inglott, CRIMARIO II project director added: “A key area of discussion will be centred on enhancing connectivity between merchant shipping, naval forces, and coastal states. This was notably demonstrated by the success of IORIS in the Red Sea, where the platform facilitated communication among accompanying over 130 vessels since the crisis in the Red Sea. This is why for the first time the maritime industry participates as observer during selected sessions of the meeting: a crucial step toward fostering closer collaboration between industry and government stakeholders. “

On the final day of the meeting, participants will witness the ALALAYAN III maritime exercise, organised by the National Maritime Centre, and involving some 20 Philippine agencies. The objective of this exercise is to test and enhance the interoperability among national and local agencies and demonstrate their capability to coordinate and render support in identifying and fighting maritime threats. Communication and coordination among all agencies will be managed through IORIS, showcasing the platform’s ability to interconnect agencies at both the national and regional levels.

Vadm Roy A. Echeverria, Director of the National Maritime Centre concluded: “Over the next days, we will see what happens when agencies come together — not just to comply with protocols, but to truly collaborate, listen, adapt, and work side by side. This year’s exercise is not just about drills or simulation; it reinforces a shared truth: no single agency or country can address maritime challenges alone. Our strength lies in our unity, in our commitment to a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach, and in our partnerships — both local and international. To our partners from the European Union and CRIMARIO II, thank you for walking alongside us once again. Your support remains instrumental in deepening our capacity and extending our reach.”

As this important event concludes, we celebrate not just its success, but the lasting partnerships and trust we’ve built across the Indo-Pacific in the past years. The tools, knowledge, and networks developed will continue to support regional maritime security and safety in the years to come”, said Ondrej Vosatka, Programme Manager at the Foreign Policy Instrument, European Commission. 

END

For further information: 

Katia Maronati – katia.maronati@crimario.eu 

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ABOUT IORIS 

IORIS is the neutral, reliable, and user-friendly maritime information sharing tool, developed by CRIMARIO which enables maritime communications, coordination, and cooperation (MarCo3) via a secure encrypted online environment. 

FEATURES

• Group and Private Messaging, and alerts to exchange information, and provide record of events.

• Secure file exchange and archiving.

• Provision of Automatic Identification System (AIS), which enables vessel monitoring.

• Creation of Community Areas where membership is defined and users can exchange information and collaborate in closed virtual groups, improving situational awareness in the process, and offering a common platform to coordinate any safety, security and/or IUU operations.

CRIMARIO

IORIS IN ACTION

Over the past 2 years, IORIS has successfully contributed to maritime operational coordination, as exemplified in the following known cases: 

9 instances of illicit trafficking interdicted
8 search and rescue (SAR) operations, saving more than 60 lives 4 piracy incidents addressed
2 cases of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing
2 pollution incidents managed
1 immigration-related case handled.

Over 130 vessels accompanied by naval assets in the Red Sea

Some examples. 

IORIS has been used to coordinate Search and Rescue of crews:

• Seven crew members of a Peruvian fishing vessel were rescued, after the capsizing of their vessel (FILOMENO), 53 nautical miles from the coast.
• A fishing vessel (SEBAE XI) from Madagascar with an engine problem was recovered. 

IORIS has been used by Reunion and Mauritius MRCCs (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres) to share Situational Awareness during cyclone BELAL and avoid casualties at sea. 

In the Red Sea, IORIS was the main communication tool, also used when a pirate action group (PAG) hijacked the fishing dhow ALMERAJ1. 

Through IORIS, the Yemen-based Regional Maritime Information Sharing Centre (ReMISC) enabled real-time information sharing among relevant maritime authorities. This created situational awareness among regional partners on the boarding operation on the hijacked tanker MV CENTRAL PARK. 

In the Federal State of Micronesia, IORIS was used to detect and intercept the foreign fishing vessel SHEN GANG FA fishing illegally within the Exclusive Economic Zone.

In Guayaquil, Ecuador, IORIS was used by the Coast Guard and Customs teams to conduct a joint inspection, leading to the seizure of 80 bundles of used clothing, 780 cartons of cigarettes, 78 cartons of perfumes and other items. 

Between November 2024 and March 2025, IORIS facilitated communication and coordination among agencies in Latin America, leading to numerous seizures, totalling about 4.4 tons of cocaine, with an estimated street value of 240 million euros. 

ABOUT CRIMARIO

CRIMARIO II is a European Union funded maritime capacity-building initiative established in 2015, in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), with the ambition of supporting partners better govern their maritime spaces by promoting connectivity and interoperability, with a focus on enhancing Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). In 2020, the project was extended for four more years to also cover the Indo-Pacific in support of the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The project promotes cross-sectorial, interagency, and regional cooperation in the areas of maritime security and safety and, to a lesser extent, supporting authorities in addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries.

A core element of the cooperation is the use of the Indo-Pacific Regional Information exchange system (IORIS), established under CRIMARIO I. 

Strategic objectives 

• Enhance information exchange and analysis, and crisis/incident management at national and/or international level in the maritime domain.
• Strengthen interagency cooperation in maritime surveillance, policing, investigation, and judicial matters.

Since its inception, CRIMARIO II, beyond providing access to the IORIS platform, has offered its Indo-Pacific partners tailor-made training packages tailored to the specific needs of individual countries. These packages have focused on key areas such as law enforcement—including operational maritime law, evidence compilation, and forensics—and maritime safety, particularly search and rescue operations and responses to marine oil pollution incidents.

In collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the project has also been developing SHARE.IT, a technical framework designed to facilitate secure, structured, and sustainable information exchange between Information Fusion Centres (IFCs) and Information Sharing Centres (ISCs) in the Indo-Pacific. SHARE.IT has aimed to link existing information-sharing systems and enhance regional coordination.

Since 2020, CRIMARIO II has taken part in and organised a range of maritime exercises to strengthen interagency collaboration and regional cooperation. The IORIS platform has regularly served as the main communication tool during these exercises, often used alongside complementary systems. These events have provided Indo-Pacific partners with opportunities to exchange expertise, learn from one another, and identify national gaps in both resources and operational procedures.

To date, CRIMARIO II has:

• Organised more than 230 IORIS training courses
• Trained over 3,000 personnel
• Collaborated with 218 agencies across 56 countries
• Organised 140 exercises

ABOUT THE EUROPEAN UNION (Funding partner)

The European Union (EU) is the political and economic union of 27 Member States^[1] with a population of 470 million. Together, the EU has built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development while maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedom. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the goals of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The EU is the world’s largest trading bloc, and the world’s largest source and destination of foreign direct investment. Collectively, the EU and its Member States are the largest donors of Official Development Assistance (ODA), providing more than half of ODA globally.

ABOUT EXPERTISE FRANCE (Implementing partner) 

Expertise France is the French public international cooperation agency. It designs and implements projects which aim to contribute to the balanced development of partner countries, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the priorities of France’s external action.

As a major player in economic and sustainable development, the AFD Group is committed alongside partner countries, stakeholders in the port and maritime sector, to meet the economic, social and environmental challenges they face. 

With a solid strategic intervention framework and operational experience in these areas, the AFD group deploys a comprehensive and integrated an approach, relying on the various instruments at its disposal. The aim is ultimately to contribute to strengthening dialogue and fostering a shared maritime culture among states, enabling them to better understand and manage their maritime domains. 

[1] Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.