Embassy Highlight
U.S.-FSM Shiprider Agreement Becomes Permanent
On May 27, FSM Secretary of Foreign Affairs Lorin Robert and U.S. Ambassador Miriam Hughes signed a historic Cooperative Shipriders Agreement designed to help protect the FSM’s maritime boundaries and ocean resources. It allows armed and uniformed law enforcement officers of the FSM National Police to embark on selected U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement vessels or aircraft and to use those assets to patrol FSM waters for the purpose of enforcing FSM laws and regulations. This permanent Shiprider Agreement builds upon the success of three earlier temporary agreements which enabled FSM law enforcement officers to inspect several foreign ships suspected of illegal fishing in FSM waters and resulted in the seizure and fining of some of those fishing vessels. Hailing the agreement as a significant step forward in collective maritime security, Ambassador Hughes noted the U.S.-FSM partnership binds together two law-abiding, democratic and sovereign nations to protect the maritime domain, which is the life blood of the global system for commerce, food and sustenance.