Belgian ports and ships are set to receive enhanced protection against organized crime, as a new law comes into effect. Vincent Van Quickenborne, the Minister for Justice and the North Sea,
announced the implementation of the Maritime Security Act on Monday. The legislation aims to safeguard all sea infrastructure and ports in Belgium from a range of threats including drug smuggling, terrorist activities, foreign interference, economic espionage, and cybercrime. While the law has been in force since 1 January, the royal decree necessary to implement it was published last week.
The Maritime Security Act focuses on strengthening the operations of the Maritime Security Cell within the Directorate-General of Shipping. Its primary objective is to improve security measures in ports and port facilities. The law covers Belgium's six seaports: Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Ghent, Ostend, Liege, and Brussels. It also includes 198 port facilities, with 170 situated in the seaports and 28 along the inland waterways where seagoing vessels can dock.
In addition to bolstering port security, the new legislation optimizes the existing port security plan. This plan coordinates security measures for different port areas with distinct security characteristics, ensuring a comprehensive and effective approach to safeguarding the ports.
International cooperation is a crucial component of combating organized crime, and Belgium has taken significant steps in this direction. A summit on the fight against organized crime, held on 5 June at the Port House in Antwerp, brought together ministers and top officials from Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. The participating countries issued a joint declaration calling for increased European and global cooperation in various areas. While the six European nations already collaborate in the fight against organized crime, they called on European institutions to intensify their efforts. Annelies Verlinden, the Interior Minister, expressed the desire to establish concrete agreements with European colleagues to address this issue effectively. Photo by World Economic Forum, Wikimedia commons.