General Manager of Djibouti Port Mr Saad Omar Guelleh has visited Shenzhen, China to sign an agreement with the Port Authority of Shenzhen that establishes a ‘Sister Port’ agreement between the two ports.
On March 16 2017 the crew of the MT ARIS 13, a tanker vessel, was released from Somali pirate hands due to the efforts of the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF). The entire crew is reported unharmed. Under the care of the PMPF, the MT ARIS 13 is now proceeding to the Somali port city of Bosasso. On 13 March, pirates hijacked the vessel en route to Mogadishu from Djibouti. The ship was seized approximately 18 km off the northern tip of Somalia. This incident marks the first hijacking of a large merchant vessel since the height of Somali piracy in 2012.
Signatory States to the revised Code of Conduct concerning the repression of piracy, armed robbery against ships and illicit maritime activity in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden Area, known as the Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct 2017, have agreed a raft of measures to combat new and emerging threats to maritime security.