Regional States move towards a joint counter-piracy task force
Coordinating a piracy response
As piracy returns to the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, countries in the region, with South Africa in the chair, are planning coordinated patrols and closer information sharing.
Countries bordering the Western Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea are working towards a combined counter-piracy task force, as a resurgence of piracy and armed robbery against ships tests the region’s ability to protect shipping and seafarers.
The plans have been set out by Comoros, Somalia and South Africa in a joint submission to the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
All three are signatories to the Djibouti Code of Conduct and its Jeddah Amendment (DCoC/JA). What began as a counter-piracy arrangement has grown into a broader maritime security framework covering piracy, armed robbery against ships and other illicit activity at sea. South Africa currently chairs the Code’s steering committee.
According to the submission, the DCoC/JA is entering a new phase in which the countries of the region take greater ownership of security in their own waters, moving beyond dialogue and training towards practical cooperation at sea. The recent upsurge in attacks has shown that international naval deployments and other outside support need to be matched by stronger and more sustainable capabilities among regional countries themselves.
From talks to coordinated patrols
A working group dedicated to operational cooperation and coordination at sea was set up at a high-level meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in November 2024. At its first meeting, in Mombasa, Kenya, in September 2025, the group adopted its terms of reference, a concept of operations and a road map. Together these set out how States can gradually improve their ability to work together and coordinate operations, while respecting national sovereignty, national command arrangements and international law.
The renewed piracy threats this year gave that work fresh urgency. A strategic round table on the resurgence of piracy was held on 14 July 2026, followed by consultations with national focal points and international partners. On 5 August 2026 signatory States endorsed further development of the task force concept, under which willing countries could contribute naval and coastguard vessels, aircraft, sea-riders, maritime surveillance and information capabilities, port and logistical support, training facilities and legal and prosecution support.
A workshop in Mombasa last month saw the drafting of the task force’s first operational planning documents, including a concept of operations, a situation analysis and a resource plan. Participants also looked at communications, vessel arrangements, cooperation with coastal nations and the legal arrangements needed to ensure that interceptions at sea lead to effective investigation and prosecution.
Participation will be voluntary, and the task force is intended to complement existing regional and international security arrangements rather than duplicate them. Signatory States are now considering what they could contribute, and a trial coordinated patrol has been proposed to test the arrangements, subject to national approvals and the availability of ships and aircraft.
Strengthening information sharing
The submission stresses that coordinated operations depend on timely, accurate and usable information passing between national maritime agencies and the region’s information-sharing and coordination centres. Recent work has therefore focused on strengthening national maritime information-sharing centres and their links with the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre in Madagascar and the Regional Coordination Operations Centre in Seychelles.
A regional workshop in Dar es Salaam from 15 to 17 September 2026 produced a draft framework clarifying roles, information flows and reporting, and how national structures should connect with the regional centres. In this way the Code is drawing its three main strands of work, information sharing, coordination of capacity building and operational cooperation, into a single approach that allows States to act together against shared threats.
Support and funding
While the signatory states are taking on more responsibility, the submission makes clear that continued backing from the IMO and international partners remains important. Priority areas include maritime surveillance, the ability of forces to work together, information sharing, training, communications and legal frameworks, including the follow-through needed to bring suspects to trial. Such support, it says, should reinforce regional ownership and respond to priorities identified by the States themselves.
The submission also draws attention to the depletion of the Code’s trust fund at the very time that signatory states were scaling up their response to growing maritime security threats, and calls for renewed voluntary financial and in-kind support.
The Maritime Safety Committee is being asked to note the progress made, including the work towards the task force, and to recognise the importance of linking national maritime security structures with regional information-sharing and operational coordination. It is also invited to encourage continued support for the capacity-building priorities set by the signatory states, and to back the IMO’s ongoing role, within its mandate and available resources, in helping them build lasting regional maritime security cooperation.
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