White Shipping Information Exchange

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Recently, an MoU was signed on the White Shipping Information Exchange between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy of Oman.

Definition of White Shipping Agreement

The white shipping information refers to the exchange of prior information on the movement and identity of commercial non-military merchant vessels.
Ships would be classified into white (commercial ships), grey (military vessels), and black (illegal vessels).

How is the agreement important?

This agreement will help in exchanging information on the merchant shipping traffic movement, through IFC-IOR (Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region.
It will help in enhancing maritime security and safety in the region.
The Indian Navy in its global outreach has so far associated with around 21 countries and 22 multi-national agencies which will help in sharing information related to maritime activities in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in real-time.

Why is the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) important?

The region accounts for 75 per cent of the world`s maritime trade and 50 percent of global consumption passes through it prompting security measures involving multiple countries.
Such an agreement is inked with 21 countries including France, Japan, Australia, Italy, the US, Bangladesh, the Maldives, New Zealand, Myanmar, and Mauritius among others. There are 22 multinational agencies too which help in sharing information of the movements in IOR.
In December 2018, the IFC which is located at Gurugram and this helps to facilitate maritime information to all the member countries.
So far several countries including the US, France, and Japan have posted their liaison officers (LO) at the IFC-IOR.

Source: PIB

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