Until July 9, 2024, Ecuador will be the scene of the multinational exercise Galapex III 2024an operation that will bring together delegations from fourteen countries and two international organizations to prepare to combat the illegal fishingly other illicit activities on the high seas. The event will take place in the Ecuadorian cities of Salinas and Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, in the Galapagos Islands. They will participate in the sessions more than 500 sailors and nine shipsamong other naval and air units.
In an official bulletin, the Ecuadorian Navy recalled that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), of which Ecuador has been a signatory since 2012, regulates activities in the seas and defines the rights and responsibilities of coastal states. . This convention promotes international cooperation, the preservation of the oceans and the maritime development of nations, in addition to establishing the limits of maritime spaces. In the context of this regulation, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations considers illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as a serious threat to the balance of fishery resources worldwide, calculating that this activity illicit generates between USD 15.5 and USD 36.4 billion annuallyrepresenting between 14% and 33% of world fishing.
Under this scenario, since 2018, Ecuador has organized the Multinational Exercise Galapex, whose objective is to carry out maritime protection maneuvers to neutralize IUU fishing and its related illicit activities. This exercise seeks to achieve interoperability of the navies and coast guard services of the participating countries through the formation of a Multinational Task Force, being the only regional exercise focused on combating this harmful activity, according to the Navy.
This, the third edition of Galapex, will feature the participation of Canada, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Spain, United States, France, Italy, Panama, Peru, United Kingdom, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, the European Union through the IORIS System and the United Nations through its anti-drug and crime office. Delegates from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries of Ecuador, through the Undersecretariat of Fisheries Resources, and the NGO Wild Aid will also join.
Six ships of the Ecuadorian Navy (BAE) will participate in the exercise: Loja, Hualcopo, Atahualpa, Imbaburto; and the coast guard boats Isabela Island and San Cristobal Island. In addition, three foreign ships will be added: that of the Navy of the Republic of Colombia Punta Arditathe United States Coast Guard vessel Benjamin Bottoms and the Peruvian Navy Ship Locumba River. Two aircraft from the Naval Aviation of the Ecuadorian Navy will also be used. The Maritime Operations Control Center will be based in Salinas.
During this exercise, the Navy reported, naval units will carry out maritime interdiction maneuvers, management of rules of engagement (ROE) and rules of use of force (RUF), and command and control tasks, using the ORION System developed by the Ecuadorian Naval Shipyards (ASTINAVE). The main objective is to improve interoperability between multinational forces in aspects such as personnel preparation, maritime security doctrine, logistics and communications, in order to neutralize illegal fishing and related activities.
“We are ready to fulfill the mission,” declared the Ecuadorian Navy in its X account. This multinational exercise not only reinforces cooperation between countries, but also strengthens the capacity for joint response to maritime threats, ensuring the preservation of resources. sailors and security in the region, the military entity emphasized.
