The Costa Serena, one of the ships in the fleet of the Italian cruise line Costa Cruises, hosted the 6th Plenary Conference of the European Coast Guard Functions Forum (ECGFF). This is a voluntary and independent forum whose main objective is to study, contribute to, and promote the understanding and development of maritime affairs.
Yesterday, during his stop in Civitavecchia, Costa Cruises CEO Michael Thamm attended the Plenary Conference and welcomed the prestigious invited institutions that participated in the sessions: Italian Vice Admiral Felicio Angrisano, President of the ECGF and Commander General of the Italian Corps of Maritime Authorities and Port Captaincies and Coast Guard; Antonio Cozzolino, Mayor of Civitavecchia; Umberto Del Basso De Caro, Secretary General of the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, and Minister Plenipotentiary; Paola Imperiale, of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Coordinator of Maritime Affairs of International Interest; Koji Shikiminizu, Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization; Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director of the Labour Standards Department of the International Labour Organization; Saverio Capolupo, Commander General of the Italian Guardia di Finanza; and Giuseppe De Giorgi, Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy.
The Forum, which is part of the semester of the Italian Presidency of the European Union, was held between September 21 and 23 on board this ship of the Costa Crociere fleet.
The Forum on European Coastguard Functions was founded with the primary objective of studying, contributing to, and promoting the understanding and development of maritime issues of common importance and interest related to cross-border and cross-sectoral Coastguard Functions. Its members include the Heads of Coastguard Services or their equivalents in each maritime nation of the European Union and the Schengen Area associated countries.
Each year, the Plenary Conference represents an important opportunity to bring maritime issues to the attention of the European public, such as search and rescue activities, immigration, fisheries control, maritime surveillance, customs controls and environmental protection, all of which are carried out daily with professionalism and high competence by the Coast Guard.
During its annual meeting, the council also discussed the creation of a Network of Training Centers for the European Union Coast Guard and the proposed Memorandum of Understanding for the Forum's Permanent Secretariat in Brussels.
