The delegation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) visited and worked at the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center

On the afternoon of August 19, 2022, the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (Vietnam MRCC) welcomed a delegation from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Attending the meeting, the Japanese delegation included representatives from JICA, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam. On JICA's side, there was the participation of Mr. Tsuchiya Koji, Major General, JCG(Ret.), Senior Advisor for Maritime Safety and Security, Infrastructure Management Division; Mr. Ikeda Ryusuke, Senior Deputy Director, Transportation Group, Infrastructure Management Division; Ms. Takebayashi Yoko, Deputy Chief Representative, JICA Vietnam and officials from JICA Vietnam. On the JCG side, there was Colonel Tamura Makoto, Director of the Coast Guard's International Cooperation Agency, Administrative Division; Lieutenant Colonel Asahara Yuri, Deputy Director of International Strategy, Administrative Division; Captain Yamamoto Yuichi, Senior Staff, International Cooperation Group No. 3, International Strategy Division, Administration Division and Second Lieutenant Akahori Ryuichi, Specialist of the Mobilization Coordination Group, International Strategy Division, Operations Division main. Especially, the meeting was attended by Mr. Yuichi Monji, First Secretary, Political Department, the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam.

Overview of the working session at Vietnam MRCC

On the side of the Vietnam MRCC, there was Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh, Deputy General Director, Heads of advisory departments and officials of Rescue Coordination Department. The regional centers also attended the meeting via online format.

Regional centers attended the meeting via the online system.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Tinh was very happy to have the Japanese delegation visit and work. He emphasized that the purpose of the meeting was to share experiences in search and rescue work, especially the use of the maritime information platform "Umi-Shiru" and open up many opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.

Comrade Nguyen Van Tinh, Deputy General Director of the Center spoke at the meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, for the delegation’s better understand the Vietnam MRCC activities in Vietnam sea area, Mr. Pham Cong Duc, Deputy Head of the Rescue Coordination Department presented an introduction about the Center in English. Japanese delegates were highly appreciated the results the Center has achieved in recent years and also shared the difficulties the Center encountered when conducting search and rescue work in such a sea area like Vietnam.

Comrade Pham Cong Duc, Deputy Head of the Rescue Coordination Department, 

introduced the Center in English.

Therefore, JCG representative, Lieutenant Colonel Asahara Yuri, Deputy Director of International Strategy, Administrative Division would like to introduce to the Center's officials the maritime information platform "Umi-Shiru" and some Realistic search and rescue case drift prediction applications.

Lieutenant Colonel Asahara Yuri (seated in the middle), Deputy Director of International Strategy, JCG Administration Department introduced the maritime information platform "Umi-Shiru" 

The Umi-Shiru system has the function of providing information about the marine space in a unified and effective manner, thereby developing and strengthening the provision of information to ensure safety at sea. According to Ms. Yuri, this system has been used very effectively in Japanese waters. She hopes that, through the presentation on the Umi-Shiru system, the Center can refer to and effectively exploit the information that the maritime system brings.

Deputy General Director Nguyen Van Tinh highly appreciated the Umi-Shiru system in the search and rescue work of the Japan Coast Guard. He hopes that in the future, Japan and Vietnam can continue to build similar maritime information systems to improve the quality of search and rescue work on both sides.

At the end of the meeting, delegates from both sides exchanged gifts and took group photos.

Some photos of the working session with the Japanese Delegation 

at Vietnam MRCC on August 19, 2022.

General Planning Department

(Translated by Duong Hong Van)