From October 17 to 21 in Toulon, the naval and air units participating in the 14th edition of the SEABORDER exercise co-organized by Algeria and France, jointly carried out operations in the fields of surveillance and maritime security.
This major annual activity of naval cooperation of the ” 5+5 Defense Initiative ” focuses on the action of the state at sea (AEM) through in particular the fight against illicit trafficking, on-board visit operations suspect ships, pollution control, etc. This year it brings together the Algerian corvette Ezzadjer , the Italian offshore patrol boats Vega , Moroccan Bir Anzaran , Spanish Centinela , Tunisian Sophonisbe , the offshore patrol boat (PHM) Commandant Ducuing and the metropolitan support and assistance building (BSAM) Seine . In addition, the Chartered Support and Assistance Building (BSAA)Pioneer and the VN Rebel brought a competition as a training chest for the benefit of the various participants. These naval units were reinforced by a Maltese helicopter and a Falcon 50 from the French Navy, as well as a Maltese medical team and a Libyan officer embarked as reinforcements on the PHM Commandant Ducuing .
The objective, through this week-long exercise, is to train a group made up of naval and air units from member countries to operate together, to promote stability in the Mediterranean basin through the development of cooperation between the north and south shores and to protect the environment. It also makes it possible to consolidate and develop operational cooperation between member countries in application of international law and to develop interoperability between units in order, if necessary, to be able to jointly respond as effectively as possible to a crisis situation at sea.
Created in 2004 at the instigation of France, the “ 5+5 Defense Initiative ” is a variation of the “ 5+5 Dialogue ” ( Algeria, Spain, France, Greece , Italy, Lybia , Malta, Morocco, Mauritania, Portugal, Tunisia) whose objectives are to foster dialogue and stimulate the sharing of experiences between member countries. It brings together various activities in four main areas : maritime surveillance, air security , the contribution of the armed forces to civil protection and training/research.
