The cooperation in relation to Finland’s maritime safety and shared maritime situational picture is developed in Maritime Operators-cooperation (METO). The Finnish Border Guard, Finnish Navy, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom as well as the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency all participate in the METO-cooperation.
The current safety situation calls for a re-evaluation of the development of maritime situational picture. The current arrangement does not anymore meet all the requirements of the changed operating environment, in which the importance of cooperation and international information sharing continues to increase.
Along with Finland’s Nato-membership, Finland has an improved opportunity to share information with its international allies in connection to the maritime situational picture.
Furthermore, the rapid development on EU level has improved the prerequisite of international information sharing between authorities in terms of maritime safety. This is emphasized in the registrations of EU’s maritime security strategy (EUMSS), updated in October 2023, concerning the maritime surveillance information sharing environment, CISE.
The METO-cooperation commenced in 1994. During the past thirty years, the operating fields of the agencies involved in the METO-cooperation have gone through significant changes, while the METO-organisation has mainly remained unchanged.
The project assessment evaluates the change
The goal of the Development of an International Maritime Situational picture 1 project’s first part was to investigate the opportunities to develop the cooperation between METO-authorities, in order that the cooperation meets the requirements of the changed operating environment in the best possible manner.
The assessment compiled in the project aimed to discover:
- How could information concerning maritime situational picture be shared between METO-authorities, and the related international cooperation arranged, in a changed situation
- How will the administrative cooperation between the METO-authorities be arranged in the future
- How has individual METO-authorities’ cooperation in connection to situational picture been organised, and how could this cooperation be developed acknowledging the needs of all METO-authorities
Results and how they can be utilised
The alternatives for development of METO-cooperation assessment, that Laurea University of Applied Sciences compiled together with representatives of METO-authorities, was completed in October 2024.
In compiling the assessment, Laurea University of Applied Sciences utilised
- surveys,
- workshops,
- interviews with experts,
- the written material the METO-authorities provided for the assessment.
The assessment’s main goal was to investigate opportunities to develop the METO-cooperation and to find out which factors have influenced the formation of METO-cooperation. Furthermore, it was investigated how international information services relating to surveillance of maritime areas could be employed more effectively by the METO-authorities. The assessment also included different alternatives for the structure of METO-authorities’ future cooperation.
The results of the Alternatives for development of METO-cooperation assessment provide an excellent base for development of the cooperation of Finnish maritime authorities. Especially the alternatives for technical implementation relating to national and international information services within maritime surveillance, presented in the assessment, further the development of cooperation between METO-authorities, as well as development of situational picture cooperation among other Finnish authorities participating in maritime operations.
The results of the assessment shall be actively utilised in the second part of the Development of an International Maritime Situational Picture project, led by the Finnish Border Guard, which aims to reach technical readiness to share information through CISE, EU’s Common Information Sharing Environment.
The discussions concerning the development of METO-cooperation’s structure and development of maritime situational picture cooperation are to commence when the METO-cooperation establishes a quorum during the National METO-year 2025.
