Islamabad, 02 Dec 2019:      The 10^th edition of International Exercise Barracuda formally commenced at the Headquarters Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) today, with an impressive flag hoisting ceremony. The ceremony was attended by 24 observers from 11 friendly countries and officers of Pakistan Navy and PMSA.

The flag hoisting ceremony was followed by an opening brief of the exercise at a local hotel in Karachi, where State Minister for climate change honorable Zartaj Gul was the Chief Guest .Observers from 11 friendly countries and delegations from various national stake holders also attended the opening brief where aims and objectives of Exercise Barracuda-X were highlighted.  In the second session of the opening brief scholarly papers on environment protection and Search and Rescue at sea were presented by speakers from National Institute of Maritime Affairs (NIMA), National Institute of Oceanography(NIO) and PMSA.

Earlier, during the first day of exercise, the foreign observers had interaction with Director General PMSA Rear Admiral Zaka Ur Rehman, who welcomed and thanked them for their participation in the exercise. DG PMSA also highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to curb pollution at sea and reiterated Pakistan Maritime Security Agency’s resolve to fight marine pollution.

International Exercise Barracuda-X is a Marine Oil Spill exercise and is aimed at enhancing capacity and proficiency of national stakeholders to combat the menace of pollution at sea. Twenty four observers from 11 Countries along with national stake holders including Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force,PMSA, Port Qasim Authority and Karachi Port Trust are participating in the exercise. The international participants of Exercise Barracuda-X include Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

The exercise Barracuda X will be conducted in Karachi and sea from 2nd to 4^th December 19.