Exercise Maru website launch

New Zealand is hosting an international Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) exercise in Auckland between 15-19 September 2008 and the website supporting the exercise went live this week.   

The Exercise, named Exercise Maru, will take place in the Hauraki Gulf and the Ports of Auckland. It will test the counter-proliferation capabilities of New Zealand and the other participating countries to halt an illicit shipment concealing materials that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction (WMD), as well as testing the legal procedures that follow such an incident.  

The PSI is an international initiative under which participating countries like New Zealand cooperate to stop illicit shipments of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, and related materials. Exercise Maru forms part of New Zealand’s contribution to the PSI and we will welcome a number of fellow PSI supporting countries to Auckland for the Exercise. We have also invited a number of observers from the Asia-Pacific region as part of New Zealand’s PSI outreach programme.  

In the lead up to Exercise Maru, the New Zealand Customs Service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade have developed a website to provide information to the public and participants about the Proliferation Security Initiative and the Exercise.  

For the answers to any questions that you may have about Exercise Maru or the Proliferation Security Initiative please visit www.nzpsi.govt.nz

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