Since the provision of technical assistance, including the organisation of relevant training activities on the maritime legal acts of the European Union for States applying for accession to the Union, is among the Agency’s core tasks, as from 1 May 2018 EMSA is implementing a project entitled "Preparatory measures for the participation of Enlargement countries in EMSA’s work ".

In the framework of this project the Agency has undertaken the organisation of a Training on fishing vessels safety which took place from 26 to 27 November 2019 at EMSA premises in Lisbon. The training was aimed at officials working at maritime administrations who are dealing or will start dealing with compliance and enforcement on safety and environmental protection issues in relation to fishing vessels.

The training course covered EU and international legislation requirements for fishing vessels’ safety and environmental issues. Case studies and practical examples contributed to exchange of experience between participants. The training programme included presentations from EU MSs experts as well as from the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) offering a different angle to the issues related to fishing vessels safety.

In addition, the participants were offered an opportunity to test a Virtual reality simulation of an inspection on a fishing vessel.