News

05.02.15

Meeting with secretary for the North Sea Bart Tommelein

Tuesday February 3rd the secretary for the North Sea invited the secretaries Coast Guard for a meeting. Several topics were discussed such as the project Coast Guard Centre and the plans for the foundation of a Task Force North Sea on a ministerial level.
02.02.15

First meeting of the steering group Coast Guard Centre

January 6th the governor of West-Flanders founded a steering group Coast Guard Centre.The governor chairs this group, whose members are the heads of the regional and federal authorities responsible for the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) and the Maritime Security Centre Belgium (MIK), the secretaries Coast Guard and the MIK coordinator. The steering group will advise on long-term strategies, policies and procedures for the organization of a 24/7 coast guard centre.
02.02.15

Meeting Governor West-Flanders and federal chairman Coast Guard

The governor of West-Flanders, Carl Decaluwé, had a meeting with Alain Lefevre, the federal chairman of the coast guard who is also the acting director-general of FPS interior - crisis centre.Both of the Coast Guard secretaries also attended the meeting. Several topics were discussed such as the Coast Guard Centre project, the changes in the tasks allocated to the Civil PRotection and claimmanagement. They also talked about the North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum for the year 2018, which will be organized by and held in Belgium.
15.12.14

Vacancy Shipping Assistance Division

Our coast guard partner Shipping Assistance Division is looking to recruit traffic operators. More information on vacancies: see www.jobpunt.be (only in Dutch). Applications must be received by December 28th.
08.12.14

Masterplan Coastal Safety

Our coast guard partner Coastal Division has been working continuously on the execution of the Masterplan Coastal Safety since 2011. In a great number of coastal municipalities works have been completed, are being executed of are planned. If you are curious about the progress, Coastal Division has a digital publication to consult.
02.12.14

Information meeting Ebola

Friday November 28th the Coast Guard secretariat, in close cooperation with the health & safety coordinator of the Agency for Maritime Services and Coast (MDK), organized a meeting on the subject of Ebola. A number of Belgian coast guard partners were worried about possible danger of contamination when boarding ships that come from countries affected by the epidemic. To minimize the danger of contamination as much as possible, a special procedure was adopted and clarified for the benefit of the coast guard partners. The Belgian national coordinator for Ebola was also present at this meeting to address any further concerns the coast guard partners might have.
01.12.14

Participants Portilog course

Thursday November 27th, the participants to the formation 'nautical chain management', organized by Portilog, visited Ostend. The Coast Guard secretaries provided them with a general overview of the Coast guard structure. Next on the agenda was the coast guard centre, consisting out of two operational centres that collaborate closely, namely the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) and the Belgian Maritime Security Centre (MIK). To conclude the visit, the participants were given the chance to visit the workfloor of the MRCC.
01.12.14

Sand extraction on Facebook

Do you want to know more on sand and gravel extraction in the Belgian part of the North Sea? Follow the latest news on Facebook!

Our coast guard partner Continental Shelf of the Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy took the initiative to create a facebook page. Follow their activities and those of the sand extraction firms on www.facebook.com/continentaalplat
01.12.14

Information session Imdate for coast guard partners

November 19th, Shipping Assistance Division was host to some of the Belgian coast guard partners. As National Competent Authority, the division organized an information session on the European Integrated Maritime Data Environment (IMDatE). The coast guard secretaries were also present. This project is intented to improve the cooperation between different coast guard authorities and to facilitate cross-border cooperation.

The European Agency for Maritime Safety (EMSA) developed an Imdate webservice. With this webservice a regional maritime traffic image can be presented, including position - information derived from different databases. During this information session, the various functionalities were discussed and the coast guard partners had the chance to ask to provide extra functionalities to support their operational tasks. To conclude, EMSA and DG MOVE (directorate-general within the European Commission responsible for transport) visited the Maritime Rescue- and Coordination Centre (MRCC).
19.11.14

Coast guard secretary present at meeting minister for the North Sea and governor of West-Flanders province

Minister for the North Sea Bart Tommelein and the governor of West-Flanders province had a meeting on November 17th. Goal was to balance policy and operational guidelines as much as possible. Because of the involvement of all coast guard partners, the coast guard secretary was also present. Main topics were Blue Growth and energy with the future creation of an energy-atoll, but also the protection of cultural heritage under water, the coast guard centre, watersports at sea, and the simplification of the procedures with regard to maritime legislation.