AN INTERNATIONAL exercise led by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has helped prepare maritime nations bordering the Indian Ocean for search and rescue operations.

Australia was one of 17 countries to participate in the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s (IORA) search and rescue exercises in the Seychelles and Bangladesh this month.

Desktop-based workshops were designed to support regional efforts to improve maritime and aviation safety across the Indian Ocean region.

The program also intended to boost economic activity and build prosperity in IORA member states.

AMSA said the search and rescue exercises, known as SAREX, gave Australia an opportunity to share knowledge and reinforce relationships with the countries bordering the Indian Ocean search and rescue region.

AMSA Response Centre duty manager Jim Fryday said the Indian Ocean was chosen as the location because of its importance as a major transit area for international trade.

“One third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic, around half of the world’s container ships and two thirds of the world’s oil shipments cross its waters annually, making the Indian Ocean a vital trade and shipping route,” Mr Fryday said.

“The importance of having strong search and rescue arrangements have been highlighted by a number of significant maritime disasters in Indian Ocean region in recent years.

“The workshops offered an opportunity to ensure shipping and incident response can be conducted safely with co-operation between port states, governments and non-governmental organisations.”

Mr Fryday said Australia was chosen to help lead the exercises because of its world-class search and rescue capabilities and experience.

“The SAREXs involved Australian government representatives from AMSA and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with strong support provided by the IORA secretariat and IORA member states in the eastern and western Indian Ocean region,” he said.

“The exercises provided an opportunity to showcase Australia’s SAR capability, training and expertise as well as engage on an international level with key stakeholders and partners.

“There were also tours of local SAR facilities during the exercises.”