Vanuatu, U.S. sign maritime law enforcement cooperation accord

Vanuatu and the United States have signed a law enforcement accord that includes a Ship Rider Agreement, local newspaper the Vanuatu Daily Post reported Wednesday.

The Ship Rider Agreement allows Vanuatu maritime law enforcement officers to use U.S. Coast Guard ships as maritime platforms from which to conduct boarding of foreign commercial vessels operating illegally in the country's exclusive economic zone.

The signing, by Vanuatu's Minister of Internal Affairs Alfred Maoh and U.S. Ambassador Catherine Ebert-Gray, is a first time ever agreement between Vanuatu and the U.S. to use American surveillance vessels to intercept foreign commercial vessels operating illegally in Vanuatu waters, said the report. Endit