Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR)

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IFC-IOR signs MoU with RCOC, Seychelles

IFC-IOR, hosted by the Indian Navy, signed an MoU with Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC), Seychelles, to enhance collaborative maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean Region. The MoU aims to promote collaboration towards enhancing maritime domain awareness, information sharing, and expertise development to counter non-traditional maritime security threats.

Key Facts:

  • IFC-IOR was established in Gurugram in 2018 to enhance collaborative maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean Region.
  • IFC-IOR hosts International Liaison Officers (ILOs) from partner nations to enable better correlation, compressed information cycles, and timely inputs.
  • The Maritime Security Architecture in the Western Indian Ocean is supported by the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC), the Regional Operations Coordination Centre (RCOC), and the national centres of the seven signatory countries(Comoros, Djibouti, France, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles).
  • IFC-IOR has established linkages with several multinational maritime security centres, and the MoU will enable deeper collaboration between IFC-IOR and RCOC.
  • The MoU will allow the Centres to effectively counter non-traditional maritime security threats such as piracy, armed robbery, human and contraband trafficking, IUU fishing, arms running, poaching, and maritime terrorism with a special focus on the Western Indian Ocean.
Pin It
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IFC-IOR signs MoU with RCOC, Seychelles

IFC-IOR, hosted by the Indian Navy, signed an MoU with Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC), Seychelles, to enhance collaborative maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean Region. The MoU aims to promote collaboration towards enhancing maritime domain awareness, information sharing, and expertise development to counter non-traditional maritime security threats.

Key Facts:

  • IFC-IOR was established in Gurugram in 2018 to enhance collaborative maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean Region.
  • IFC-IOR hosts International Liaison Officers (ILOs) from partner nations to enable better correlation, compressed information cycles, and timely inputs.
  • The Maritime Security Architecture in the Western Indian Ocean is supported by the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC), the Regional Operations Coordination Centre (RCOC), and the national centres of the seven signatory countries(Comoros, Djibouti, France, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles).
  • IFC-IOR has established linkages with several multinational maritime security centres, and the MoU will enable deeper collaboration between IFC-IOR and RCOC.
  • The MoU will allow the Centres to effectively counter non-traditional maritime security threats such as piracy, armed robbery, human and contraband trafficking, IUU fishing, arms running, poaching, and maritime terrorism with a special focus on the Western Indian Ocean.

2019

9-Oct-2019: Information Fusion Centre- Sharing Maritime Data

The Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) that was set up last year (in 2018) has started functioning as an information-sharing hub of maritime data.

The centre will set up a line of action for incident responses to maritime security situations through a collaborative approach.

The centre is administering a website to undertake the collection and dissemination of information on a daily basis and host the Monthly Maritime Security Update (MMSU) highlighting analysis on incidents, warnings, and advisories issued in the IOR.

It is actively interacting with the maritime community and has already built linkages with 18 countries and 15 multinational/maritime security centres.

All countries which have signed white shipping (commercial shipping information about the movement of cargo ships) information exchange agreements with India are IFC partners.

Several Indian Ocean littoral states that have joined the coastal radar chain network include Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, and Seychelles.

19-Aug-2019: Rajnath Singh reviews functioning of IMAC and IFC-IOR

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh visited the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) and Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) located at Gurugram. He reviewed the functioning of IMAC and IFC-IOR. Senior Navy officials, including the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, briefed him on further enhancing the capabilities of the two centres under the National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) Project.

The NMDA project was launched in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region). The IMAC monitors movement of more than 1,20,000 ships a year passing through the Indian Ocean. The cargo carried by these ships account for 66 per cent of world crude oil, 50 per cent of container traffic and 33 per cent of bulk cargo. Thus, IMAC performs a very crucial role in collecting shipping information, analysing traffic patterns and sharing the inputs with the user agencies.

Raksha Mantri was also briefed on the IFC-IOR, which is a collaborative initiative by the Indian Navy in coordination with partner nations and multi-national maritime agencies to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness and Maritime Security. The Centre is likely to host International Liaison Officers from the partner nations in the near future.

2018

13-Nov-2018: Info fusion centre soon to improve maritime security

The Navy will soon put into operation the Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) to improve maritime security in the region. The IFC-IOR is a separate platform and all members of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) are expected to be part of it.

The IONS, launched in 2008, seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the IOR.

White-shipping refers to commercial shipping information about movement of cargo ships.

India has signed an agreement on exchanging information on white-shipping with 18 countries and operationalised 11 of them.

Prominent mission-based ship deployments have been made in the Gulf of Aden and other areas including Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and southern and central parts of the Indian Ocean to overcome growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean. Besides this, patrolling by aircraft is also being carried out regularly.

IFC-IOR would comprise personnel from many countries. It will analyse all inputs pertaining to maritime security in IOR and pass on relevant information to the participating countries within an actionable time frame.

The IOR has a diverse set of littorals and island nations, each with their unique needs, aspirations, interest and values. Rise in maritime piracy in the region has had its impact worldwide, which shows how important these waters are to the nations and economies the world over. Although concerted efforts by the navies and maritime security agencies over the last few years have significantly reduced this threat, other challenges persist.