Sailors and civilian maritime professionals from eight nations officially kicked-off exercise Cutlass Express 2012-2 (CE12-2) during pre-sail conferences in Djibouti, Djibouti; Port Louis, Mauritius; and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Nov. 1.

This year's week-long exercise, being conducted for the second time since its inception last year, is part of the larger Express Series exercises and is designed to advance East African maritime relationships and address mutual security issues.

"Exercise Cutlass Express is aimed at enhancing capacity to fight piracy in our area," said Maj. General Farrah Mohammed, Chief of Operations and Training, Defence Forces Headquarters, Tanzanian People's Defence Force, during the opening remarks in Dar Es Salaam. "This work is commendable and is an important endeavor towards combating piracy, illicit trafficking and illegal fishing."

Pre-sail training events for CE12 will be held in-port in Djibouti, Mauritius and Tanzania while the at-sea training will be simultaneously conducted in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and concludes Nov. 8.

During the in-port portion of training, combined maritime forces will conduct pier-side workshops focusing on maritime interdiction operations (MIO) including visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) boarding operations as well medical and communications drills.

After in-port training is complete, the at-sea portion of CE12 will begin in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. Vessels involved ranges from small out-board Defender boats to larger ships including HNLMS Rotterdam, flagship of NATO Task Force 508.

At sea, ships and their personnel will work together with regional maritime operations centers during scenarios tailored to address counter-piracy, counter-narcotics, and illegal fishing.

Royal Netherlands navy Commodore Ben Bekerring, commander, Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, spoke about the benefits of working together through opportunities such as Cutlass Express.

"What we have learned is that we need to have an international approach, which is why it's important to combine our strengths," Bekkering later added, "It is important to work together and look for further improvement in information sharing; this is the key to success."

CE12-2 is a U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) sponsored exercise focusing on addressing common maritime issues through information sharing and coordinated operations among East African navies.

Participating countries in CE12-2 include Djibouti, Mauritius, Mozambique, the Netherlands, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States.