Commander Navy Captain (Navy) Humphrey Tawake and the Acting Chief Executive Officer for Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji Captain Philip Hill signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 31 October 2019.
The MOU recognises the common role each party has in contributing to the Government’s goals of fulfilling its international maritime obligations and share a common field of operation, which is Fiji’s maritime zone.
The purpose of the MOU is to promote and enhance existing coordination and cooperation efforts between the two parties on matters relating to carry out search and rescue coordinator function, Hydrographic function, enforcement powers under section 263 (2) of the Maritime Transport Act (2013) to the naval officers, availability of the Parties legal team to assist each other in terms of prosecuting maritime cases in the court of law, The availability of the authorised officers to give evidence in court in the infringement they issue, Training, Inspection and Boarding to include the authorised officers, and the General cooperation to include both legal and technical assistance between parties.
This was the first MOU to be signed between the two parties to agree each other working together to protect the jurisdiction of Fiji’s maritime as far as marine pollution prevention and management.
