Coast Guard hosted training program starts

August 19, 2019

The Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training ( SEACAT) hosted by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) began on Monday.

According to PCG, the event will be participated by 100 local and foreign maritime law enforcement counterparts.

"The Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) workshop will be joined by one hundred personnel from Cambodia,  Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka,  Thailand, Japan, United States of America and Philippines," it stated said.

"The United States Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment will lead the conduct of maritime interdiction operation/vessel board, search and seizure  workshop to level-up the best practices of use of force and demonstration of arresting techniques; lecture on smuggling trends; drills on flex and handcuffing, positive control measures for compliant and non-compliant boarding, and multiple-man room entry, tactical team movement and inspections and weapons retention to be executed aboard PCG vessels," it added.

The PCG said "SEACAT is annually conducted to address common concerns of maritime security threats prevalent in the ASEAN region such as illegal fishing, smuggling, illegal drug, piracy and human trafficking."

"This event also aims to promote mutual international cooperation between participating agencies," it stated.

The exercise, which will last until August 30, will conclude with a sea phase activity with two tracking and boarding scenarios in the Philippine waters. Robina Asido/DMS