Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE)

The Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) initiative began in 2008 as a mechanism of meetings aimed at coordinating and de-conflicting activities between the countries and coalitions involved in military counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean. The meetings are held in Bahrain at regular intervals and are co-chaired on a rotational basis by the Coalition Maritime Forces (CMF), NATO, and EUNAVFOR. Since the beginning in 2008, military and civilian representatives from 27 countries, 14 international organizations, the maritime industry and several governments have joined the meetings.

Rule of law

None

Naval Operations

SHADE does not coordinate naval operations, but seeks to avoid redundancies within naval task force or independent deployer operations.

Vessel self-protection

Implemented

Industry participates in the SHADE meetings to update and discuss Best Management Practices with the force-providing nations and coalitions.

Coordination

Implemented

An important aspect of the SHADE meetings is information sharing and the exchange of views between stakeholders from force-providing nations, regional countries, international organizations and industry groups. The SHADE meetings are also used as a forum to coordinate and de-conflict ongoing military counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean. SHADE has been used by force-providing nations and coalitions to coordinate and discuss convoys through the Internationally Recognized Transit Corridor (IRTC), options for increased coverage by maritime patrol aircraft, and the threat of piracy in the Bab el Mandeb Strait, among other things. As a result of the SHADE process, China, India and Japan in early 2012 agreed to coordinate their merchant vessel escort convoys through the Internationally Recognized Transit Corridor (IRTC) with one country being ‘reference nation’ for a period of three months on a rotational basis. In June 2012 it was announced that South Korea would join these three countries to further enhance the naval operations against pirates.