Spending time out at sea even during the festive season is a great advantage for us as it builds our sailors capabilities.
These were the words of Commander of the Fiji Navy Captain Humphrey Tawake adding that working together with other nations to stop illegal activities in our waters has benefitted the sailors greatly.
Tawake adds that this types of operations with neighboring countries like New Zealand and Australia are a deterrence to people intending to indulge in illegal activities in Fiji waters.
He stated that this year they were able to board over 300 illegal vessels and 100 of those were in offshore waters.
Tawake says that with the Ship-rider agreement between the Fiji Navy and the US Coast Guard, he expects the maritime security within the region to be at the best it’s ever been.
He says that he looks forward to more collaborations with the US Coast Guard in the surveillance of Fiji’s Economic Exclusive zone.