OSCE consults Turkmenistan in port control procedures and security issues

By  Trend

Port control procedures and security issues discussed at OSCE-organized training course in Turkmenbashi International Seaport on Caspian Sea, Trend reports referring to the OSCE.

More than 25 seaport security and law enforcement officials completed a five-day practical training course on port security management and procedures on December 2018. The course, held at the Turkmenbashi International Seaport on the Caspian Sea, was organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

International experts from the United States and the United Kingdom presented the concepts of maritime security and border and borderlands, layers of risk, and key examples of transnational threats at marine borders such as drug trafficking, piracy and maritime terrorism. The participants discussed port security assessment and planning, emergency preparedness and security control administration.

“In May 2018, Turkmenistan inaugurated a new seaport on the Caspian Sea, which will become a regional hub connecting Europe and Asia,” said Dmitry Zagrotskiy, Officer-in-Charge of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

“The increased capacity of the new port will require advanced training on modern port control and maritime security procedures, including marine border checkpoints, for the personnel of the port administration, and law enforcement agencies represented at the port,” he said.

“It is symbolic that guided by the priorities of Turkmenistan’s transport policy, the Centre organized this training course as a successful accomplishment of its activities in 2018, the year in which the Government proclaimed that ‘Turkmenistan is the heart of the Great Silk Road,” Zagrotskiy said.

The training programme offered practical exercises and case studies addressing maritime security control and port security management procedures. It also included a visit to the port area to demonstrate methods of cargo and passenger control as well as vessel registration and management procedures.

The participants stressed the importance of using advanced screening techniques and equipment to efficiently counter transnational threats at marine borders.