CISE- ALERT shows how to protect maritime infrastructure, seas and coasts

By Marek Grzybowski

The CISE-ALERT project is an initiative involving 6 EU Member States (France, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Portugal) and 2 Associated Countries (Finland, the Netherlands), the aim of which is to support the effective use of CISE for information exchange in maritime surveillance operations at sea. In the last phase of the project, since April 2024, the involved authorities have conducted a series of exercises to protect maritime waters. Analyzing the results of the exercises conducted within CISE-ALERT, it can be concluded that there is still much to be done in the field of protection and defense of maritime waters, including in the Baltic Sea. The activities of the project on the Polish side were continuously monitored by the Baltic Maritime and Space Cluster.

Recent attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea have shed new light on the protection and defense of maritime waters and coasts, and specifically seaports, large and small, drilling platforms and offshore installations, pipelines and transmission cables. This also applies to other installations, such as technical systems and devices ensuring safe navigation. From the discussions and debates devoted to security in the Baltic Sea, it is clear that we are not prepared for the issue of security of this body of water either theoretically (conceptually) or practically. Besides, other regions and countries are not prepared either.

Because designing the security of sea areas and coasts and sea ports requires a different approach today than 10 years ago. This system will not be tight if it is not comprehensive. Without the integration of civilian and military institutions, without the full involvement in the protection and defense system of maritime administrations and military commands and border services, security will have gaps. And even one leaky section can be the beginning of a catastrophe that will cause a snowball effect. That is why it is worth examining the results of the CISE-ALERT project, which exposed all the gaps in the protection of sea areas and coasts, mainly in the Mediterranean Sea.

 

The CISE-ALERT project has entered its final phase of operation and is showing, according to its leaders, “promising results in testing the use of CISE in an operational context”. This conclusion is based on the statement that “Out of seven different scenarios developed, five trials were successfully carried out and the results were presented in a series of infographics and short films”. The progress of the project was continuously monitored by a representative of the Baltic Maritime and Space Cluster. The results and conclusions of the exercises are available on the CISE-ALERT website. The Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE) is a common information sharing environment that creates a network of systems of authorities responsible for maritime surveillance.

The aim of the initiative is: “to cover existing European and EU/EEA Member States with interoperable surveillance systems”. It also aims to improve the exchange of classified and secret information between public authorities from different sectors through a voluntary and decentralized network. CISE is intended to support cooperation and create synergies between the parties involved, including civil-military cooperation. An important activity is “Avoiding duplication of data acquisition and increasing the complementarity of the information and services provided.”

Protection of infrastructure and territories
The Common Information Sharing Environment aims to further improve and promote the exchange of information between authorities from seven different threat areas. These include: maritime security and protection, control (illegal – MG) fishing, border control, law enforcement, customs, defense and the marine environment. CISE is intended to integrate the activities of institutions involved in maritime surveillance or in the defense of waters and coasts.

The problem of the need to improve the exchange of information between maritime surveillance authorities of different countries was noticed in the European Union more than 15 years ago. It quickly became one of the key goals of the strategic initiatives of the European Union. The development of a common maritime information exchange environment – CISE was first proposed in 2009. Since then, the system has been developed and improved. The critical infrastructure protection exercises can be watched here

 

In the version covering the political and legal aspects of the initiative, it came into being in the form of the “EU Maritime Security Strategy” (EUMSS). In April 2019, the European Commission (DG MARE) entrusted the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) with the implementation of the transition phase of CISE. It was instructed that the project be implemented in close cooperation with the Member States. The aim was to ensure a coherent evolution of the CISE network and to bring the solutions to an operational level by the end of 2023.
However, the tasks included in CISE-ALERT were tested only in 2024, and the final phase was to be published in January 2025. The CISE-ALERT project is to contribute to “testing past, current and short-term activities and developments in CISE with a single ambition – to move CISE from the current transition phase to an operational state”.
The event, which hosted the Final Conference of the CISE-ALERT Project, took place on 17 October 2024 in Brussels and was jointly organised by the European Commission, the European Maritime Safety Agency and the CISE-ALERT Project. Its aim was to promote the launch of the operational phase of CISE and to provide an update on the results and operational tests carried out within the CISE-ALERT Project.

Military and civilian authorities cooperation – benefits of CISE
Discussions were held in four panels, attended by representatives of DG MARE, DG MOVE, DG HOME, EMSA, EEAS, EDA, SATCen, FRONTEX of the European Commission, representatives of maritime authorities and coast guards of the Member States and partners of the CISE-ALERT project.
– For many years CISE was seen as a concept, as a theory, but nobody could really see the added value of this tool and consequently it was difficult to test CISE using real data – said Eric Turquet de Beauregard, head of the coast guard and law enforcement unit at the Secretariat General for the Sea of ​​the French Prime Minister (SGMer), coordinator of the project during the meeting in Brussels. Activities (exercises) against illegal immigration can be seen here

Eric Turquet de Beauregard stressed that “all the work that has been done in two years has proven that CISE is now operational, that it is useful in any type of operation…, reflects the fact that military and civilian authorities can benefit from CISE. Finally, CISE strengthens the decision-making process, as well as cross-border and intersectoral coordination”. Unfortunately, most of the exercises were carried out in the Mediterranean Sea, and today it turns out that in the Baltic Sea there is no such comprehensive solution as the one practiced in the CISE-ALERT project. Some exercises covered the Black and Adriatic Seas, as well as the Atlantic. For the project, realistic scenarios were created in which operations against drug trafficking, SAR, response to pollution, operations to clean up the marine environment, combating illegal fishing, protection of critical infrastructure, counteracting illegal immigration were practiced.

The activity of 6 EU Member States and 2 Associated Countries was reflected in testing different ways of exchanging information in maritime surveillance operations and coordinating activities. In the last phase of the project, since April 2024, the involved authorities have carried out a series of trials covering the following seven use cases:
(1) protection of critical infrastructure,
(2) illegal activity/illegal migration,
(3) response to pollution,
(4) search and rescue,
(5) dealing with illegal fishing,
(6) combating drug trafficking,
(7) customs clearance operations.
– The first five trials were successful, leading to closer cooperation between the different national maritime administrations involved, increased understanding of the CISE functionalities and raised awareness of the potential of CISE to increase situational awareness – the project management says in a press release.
The CISE-ALERT project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF). The views and opinions expressed in the content of the videos are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the affiliated organizations. It is emphasized that the international exercise “also provided an opportunity to identify a number of lessons learned and areas for further improvement.” Detailed information about the CISE-ALERT project, the participating bodies and activities to date can be found at https://www.cise-alert.eu/