On Friday 23 February 2024, Ms Nicole Kuipers, Director of the Dutch Coast Guard visited Ms Nathalie Balcaen, Flemish President of the Coast Guard Policy Body and a delegation of Coast Guard partners at the MRCC in Ostend. An overview was given of the major projects being worked on. For the Dutch Coast Guard, this is the build-up of the ‘Maritime Operations Centre’ (MOC) in den Helder, the replacement of their IC systems and the development of a new incident management system. They are strengthening their operational side by deploying additional data analysts and, in the longer term, by innovating their vessels used for enforcement. In Belgium, they are refining the current cooperation structure, deploying a 'multipurpose maritime operation' (MMO) under the leadership of European Maritime Safety agency (EMSA) and in cooperation with France and the Frontex and European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), reviewing the need for an MIRG team and an emergency towing vessel and, finally, a new incident management system is also under development in Belgium.
The Netherlands and Belgium often face similar problems. During this bilateral consultation, the focus was on possible cooperation in training for operators and deployment of resources during exercises. Also in the development of the new incident management systems, we want to give each other insight into what has already been worked out. Contacts were exchanged to improve information exchange, such as very concretely on intrusions into wind farms. The Belgian coast guard admits to envying the Netherlands in terms of their ability to deploy one or more tugs during a storm. Both parties are open to strengthening each other in this respect in the long term. It has to be said that there are already short lines of communication between the operational services and certainly want to keep it that way.
