The crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has brought new uncertainty and rising levels of maritime insecurity to the Western Indian Ocean.

The pirates of Somalia have resumed their activities, navies are more focused on other challenges than blue crimes in the region, and the future strength of the Combined Maritime Forces — one of the primary regional maritime security operations — is uncertain.

Under such conditions, established maritime security institutions are more important than ever. On Friday, 24.7.2026, the Contact Group on Illicit Maritime Activities (CGIMA) held a plenary meeting in hybrid format in Mauritius.

As I have frequently highlighted in analytical pieces and commentaries, the Group — successor to the highly successful Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia — is potentially an important building block in the region’s maritime security architecture.

So far, however, it has struggled to fulfill this role. The Group, currently chaired by Seychelles and supported by a secretariat at the Indian Ocean Commission, did not respond, for instance, to the recent piracy resurgence.

Hopefully the plenary meeting will add some new momentum to the Group, complementing what is being achieved within the Djibouti Code of Conduct, the Regional Maritime Security Architecture, and formats such as SHADE.

Learn more about why CGIMA matters, and what it needs to do, in the video of my brief intervention at the plenary.