KARACHI: Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) on Tuesday held the launching ceremony of its new mobile application called “Assistance, Anytime, Anywhere at Sea (AAAS)” to facilitate maritime communities operating in Pakistan’s territorial waters.
Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Kaleem Shaukat graced the occasion as chief guest while PMSA Director General (DG) Rear Admiral Zakaur Rehman, flag officers, senior fishery officials from Sindh and Balochistan, members of the fishermen community and media personnel were also present.
The PMSA DG welcomed all participants and highlighted that the agency being the sole law enforcement agency at sea regulates international laws and conventions.
He said that Pakistan has a large coastline of approximately 1,000 km. “PMSA is responsible for search and rescue in an area of 840 NMs from Pakistan’s coast to the deep sea,” he said, adding that PMSA keeps the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) and Disaster Response Centre (DRC) maintained around the clock to respond to any emergency.
He also said that AAAS will help the fishermen facing any problem at the sea.
Vice Admiral Kaleem Shaukat, during his welcome address, said that the fishermen community of Pakistan was an asset to the nation that has the best sea with natural resources.
He highlighted that protection of fishing vessels of fishermen at sea was a priority of PMSA and congratulated the agency, as well as Pakistan Navy, over the successful development of the software.
He also requested members of the fishermen community to cooperate with PMSA for the improvement of their protection and assured them of PMSA’s all-out support.