In the wake of illegal fishing and the resurgence of piracy in the Red Sea, the Kenya Coast Guard Service (KCGS) is banking on its robust modernization plan to bolster surveillance in the country’s territorial and inland waters.
KCGS Director General Bruno Shioso says they are in the process of acquiring a modern vessel that could carry out patrols in the open seas and complement KCGS flagship vessel christened Doria. DG Shioso says the MV KSGS Doria is robust and always at sea doing patrols to make sure no illegalities are happening in Kenya’s territorial sea.
The vessel, he said, has had many successful stories, a recent one being the rescue of four fishermen who went missing after their outboard engine boat malfunctioned and they were hit by a rogue wave while on a fishing expedition. Three were rescued, but unfortunately, one of the fishermen was believed to have lost his life after drowning.
The rescued fishermen were stranded at sea for 22 days before a Chinese fishing vessel Lui Quing Yuan U 108 came to their rescue and handed them over to KCGS. “Right now, we are in the process of trying to acquire other vessels. We have had dialogues with some vendors from abroad. We have visited two of them in France and the Netherlands,” said DG Shioso.
“We are still trying to see which areas we should be able to collaborate and look for appropriate resources from the government and be able to buy more vessels,” he added.
Also, as part of the modernization drive and to expand their reach at the Coast and in the inland waters, KCGS is building new office facilities including housing for staff. “We have three major projects, one in Baringo; building a state-of-the-art service station for officers over there, it is around 95 per cent complete,” he said, adding, that more are ongoing in Mbita and Lake Victoria.
Shioso noted that illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing remained a major threat but since the formation of the Coast Guard, the threat has been subdued.
“As a government, we are moving towards the Blue Economy. One of the keys and readily available value chains is around fishing. The Kenya Fisheries Service (KeFS) has the key mandate on issues of fisheries, but we are coming in as an enabler of enforcement,” said Shioso.
KCSGS is collaborating with KeFS to carry out frequent operations on the coastal and inland waters that have been successful.
“Right now, there are no major violations in our Kenyan territorial waters, but we are still a step ahead. We are trying to invest in our surveillance capabilities and technologies so that we can be able to know what is happening or who is infringing on our waters,” said Shioso, adding, that the coming of more equipment would enhance surveillance.
The DG was speaking in a dialogue organized by the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) with stakeholders on Blue Economy – reporting on maritime security in Mombasa. On his part, MCK Director of Media Training and Development Victor Bwire said the dialogues provided a platform for journalists to get access to sources.
“The Blue Economy is a major thing, a huge potential for the country. We have a whole ministry, almost all the county governments have departments for Blue Economy. We need to see more in-depth, focused reporting on Blue Economy and Circular Economy,” said Bwire.