ENSURE

European Security Revisited

Supplemental Materials

Table 1: Overview over MDA and information-sharing platforms 1
PlatformStart dateHostData sourcesWho is connected?Number of users, countries, agenciesMain regions of useMain functionalitiesWhich automated detection functions?
V-RMTC (Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Centre)2004Italian Navyinformation shared by usersNavies35 navies from Mediterranean and 5+5 Community, links to Brazilian and Singapore Navy Surveillance SystemsMediterraneanInformation sharing related to merchant shippingn/a
Mercury2009EU
NAVFOR ATALANTA		Information shared by usersNavies and law enforcement agencies share, shipping industry receives information100+ agenciesIndian OceanInformation sharingn/a
SeaVision2012  US DoT
USFFC NAVWAR
  • AIS
  • VIIRs
  • VMS
  • Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAT-SAR)
  • MSSIS
  • Coastal Radar
  • Electro-Optical Imagery
  • Radio Frequency
  • Ship Registry Data
  • Air, Land and Maritime forces
  • Commerce and Fishery regulation agencies
  • Law Enforcement agencies
  • Border Security agencies
  • Government Port Operations and Security agencies
3,000 individual users from 120 partner nations  
  • Global
  • specific application to Africa’s maritime domain
  • MDA and information sharing
  • broad array of information
  • common operational picture
  • Anomaly Detection
  • Users can define automated queries to generate alerts
  • Skylight overlay: dark vessel, IUU fishing, dark rendezvous and transshipment detection
IORIS (Indo-Pacific Regional Information Sharing)2018Developed by the EU-funded project CRIMARIO
  • satellite AIS
  • terrestrial AIS optional
  • Skylight overlay  
  • Navies
  • Coast guards, fisheries, port, maritime industry, law enforcement administrations
  • Regional centres
  • Administrations designated by partner countries
50+ countries and 100+ agencies in the Indo-Pacific  Indo-Pacific
  • Information sharing
  • Command, control and coordination of operations
  • improving situational awareness and MDA
  • Skylight overlay: dark vessel, IUU fishing, dark rendezvous and transshipment detection
Global Fishing Watch2016Global Fishing Watch
  • AIS
  • NASA VIIRS, imagery
  • ESA Sentinel-1 and 2
  • Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
Open-sourceOpen-source
  • Global
  • regions of low AIS coverage
MDADetection of fishing and industrial activities  
Skylight2019  Allen Institute for AI (Ai2)
  • AIS
  • Open-source satellite data from NOAA, NASA and ESA
  • Images (Maxar Technologies)
  • VIIRS
  • Electro Optical Imagery
  • Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8,9
  • Government authorities, regional partners
  • NGOs WildAID, UNODC, International MCS Networks, Global Fishing Watch, TMT, WCS, National Geographic Society, Marine Management Organisation, C4ADS, IUCN, others
100+ partners, 42 countries, 11 Capacity building partners, 5 technology partnersGlobalDetection and identification of vessel behaviour and location
  • Detection of dark vessels
  • Dark rendezvous
  • Entry Event notification (in an EEZ or MPA)
  • Fishing Speed limits
IRIS (IFC Real-time Information Sharing)May 2019IFC Singapore Navy
  • AIS and LRIT
Information shared by partners
  • Navies
  • Shipping community
  • IFCs
Interpol, V-RMTC		43 Countries as members of the IFCIndo-PacificInformation sharingn/a
NISHAR (Network for information Sharing)2024IFC-IOR Indian NavyDetails not yet availableNavies and government authoritiesDetails yet not availableIndian OceanInformation sharing tooln/a
Table 2: IORIS in operations 2
Vessel or operationType of incidentAgencies and country(ies)Policy areaGeographic AreaDate
Ramona 5Maritime DistressMaritime Rescue Coordination Centre MogadishuSurveillance and coordination of operations relating to the adrift tanker Ramona 5Horn of Africa, Somalian Coast2025/03/13
Inspection of the Kokoo freighterCigarette smugglingFrench Authorities, New Caledonian Customs Authority, Customs Intelligence Unit, Maritime Information Fusion Centre (CFIM) of the Maritime Zone Commander (CZM), along with the Armed Forces in New Caledonia (FANC)   Australian Border ForceInspection of the Kokoo freighter, seizure of nearly 76 tons of smuggled cigarettes   Coordinated pre-boarding surveillance of the Kokoo freighter via IORIS  Port of Nouméa, New Caledonia2025/02/05
Al-Najma No. 481Armed robbery, hostage-takingYemeni Coast Guard, EUNAVFOR ATALANTAIORIS-facilitated EUNAVFOR ATALANTA intervention following Yemeni Coast Guard alert on the platform, safe release of Al-Najma crew  coast of Eyl, Somalia2025/02/07
ALMERAJ1Anti-piracySomali Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy, Puntland Maritime Police Force, Somali Police Force Department of Coast Guard in Mogadishu, Maritime Operations Center (MOC) in Bossaso   EUNAVFOR AtalantaIORIS-facilitated real-time coordination of joint Somali-EUNAVFOR ATALANTA response to ALMERAJ1 hijacking by pirate action group  Somali Coast, 90 nautical miles northeast of Eyl2024/11/22
ORION XIV 2024Counter-narcotics operationLed by the Colombian Armed Forces   125 institutions and agencies from 62 countriesIORIS-coordinated multi-country maritime operation with major seizures (5759 Kg of drugs, 10,000 Kg of IUU catch, $10 million USD in contraband) and arrests (6,500 individuals)Pacific maritime routes used to smuggle drugs from South America to global destinations2024/10 –2024/11 (45 days)
Terra NovaEnvironmental protection/ ship in distressPhilippine Coast Guard (PCG)IORIS-supported coordination of Philippine oil spill response after the motor tanker Terra Nova capsizingPhilippine Waters 3.6 nautical miles off the coast of Limay in Bataan2024/08/15
Not knownAnti-weapon-smugglingSomalian Authorities (Puntland Maritime Police Force)IORIS-supported weapons smuggling interdiction and arrest of four weapon smugglers by Puntland Maritime Police ForceSomalian Coastal Waters2024
Not knownVessel monitoring operationEight agencies from Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania    IORIS-enabled identification and tracking of suspicious or blacklisted vesselsEast African Coast2025
World Food Programme vesselsHumanitarian AidEUNAVFOR ATALANTA, World Food Program (WFP)IORIS-supported monitoring of WFP humanitarian aid vessels to SomaliaSomali Coast, Horn of Africa2023
  1. Source: own compilation based on the platforms’ websites. ↩︎
  2. Source: own compilation based on reports published by CRIMARIO on its website, LinkedIn or X account. ↩︎