10th edition of International Exercise Barracuda begins at PMSA

The 10th edition of the International Exercise Barracuda formally commenced at the headquarters of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA), with an impressive flag-hoisting ceremony.

The ceremony was attended by 24 observers from 11 friendly countries and officers of the Pakistan Navy and the PMSA.

The spokesman for the navy said that the flag- hoisting ceremony was followed by an opening brief of the exercise at a hotel in Karachi, where State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul was the chief guest.

Observers from 11 friendly countries and delegations from various national stakeholders also attended the opening brief where objectives of the Exercise Barracuda-X were highlighted.

In the second session of the opening brief, scholarly papers on environment protection and search and rescue at sea were presented by speakers from the National Institute of Maritime Affairs, the National Institute of Oceanography and the PMSA.

Earlier, during the first day of the exercise, the foreign observers had interaction with Director General PMSA Rear Admiral Zaka Ur Rehman, who welcomed and thanked them for their participation in the exercise.

The DG PMSA also highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to curb pollution at sea and reiterated the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency’s resolve to fight marine pollution. The International Exercise Barracuda-X is a marine oil spill exercise and is aimed at enhancing the capacity and proficiency of national stakeholders to combat the menace of pollution at sea.

Twenty four observers from 11 countries along with national stakeholders, including the Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force, PMSA, Port Qasim Authority and Karachi Port Trust, are participating in the exercise.

The international participants of Exercise Barracuda-X include Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Turkey. The exercise Barracuda X will be conducted in Karachi and the Arbaian sea from 2nd to 4th December 2019.