Training

Officers
All Navy officers must be of high level of education and scientific knowledge (high tech.). They are trained in the best Naval academies in the world.
- Basic training: Done in the following countries: USA, FRANCE, U.K, ITALY.
- Courses:
    * USA : SWOS, ISOAP, SAR, NSC, OJT with the US Coast Guard.
    * France : Cours de spécialite Energie - Detection - Transmission - Missile - Artillerie - Plongée - Stage embarqué - Etat major - Ecole de Guerre.
    * U.K. : Initial staff course, Amphibious course, Maritime drugs enforcement.
    * Italy : Stato majore, stato majore interforze, academia navale.
    * Syria : Advanced Training methods, Naval Battalion Cdr., Naval war college.
    * Lebanon : Training of cadet officers, diving and Rescue courses, training of petty officers and sailors.

Petty Officiers and Sailors
Trained in the naval school in Lebanon, and those selected among them, follow courses in the countries shown above.

Missions

- Preserve the safety of Lebanese coast and territorial waters.
- Give naval support to the army units.
- Counter smuggling and piracy.
- Search and rescue at sea.
- Prevent sea pollution and preserve marine environment.
- Support the domestic commercial fleet.
- Execute surveillance and control of navigation within the territorial waters, according to the joint maritime
  operations center instructions.
- Impose nation's authority and apply lebanese and international laws.

Structure

Threats

- The Israeli Ennemi.

- Narcotics : The security forces put out great efforts to resolve this problem, especially in the field of opium cultivation in the Bekaa valley, which has been eradicated to 95%. However, some external activities concerning this subject use Lebanon as a country of transit to other countries in the region and the world. These activities come from Cyprus, Turkey, Colombia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

- Alcohol and cigarettes.

- Illegal Immigration : All of the "illegal" ports or harbors where illegal imports and exports were transshipped have been shut down as march 18 1991 with the insertion of Lebanese army forces ( LAF ). Several small harbors in the north and south were controlled by militia from 1984 until 1991 encouraging smuggling operations and illegal operations creating a major problem during and immediately after the war.

- Illegal Ports : Illegal Fishing Foreign fishing intrusion is considered minor with only a few vessels from Syria fishing in Lebanon's Territorial Sea along the northern border. Illegal domestic fishing is dominated by the use of unconventional fishing gear such as dynamite, which destroys the aquatic environment.

- Pollution : Major oil refineries located near Tripoli previously used to refine crude oil are now used to store imported petroleum products. Prior oil stocks received from Iraq are no longer readily available with the current United Nation sanctions against Iraq. Tankers offload crude and onload refined products such as gasoline, LPG, and diesel fuel in the ports of Beirut and Tripoli. The team was unable to identify any response equipment for either an oil or chemical spill in Lebanon.

- The Importance of Watching : The importance of watching the trade boats and the application of the maritime laws conforming to the international treaties launched by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

- Search & Rescue operations : The largest search and rescue threat would be from a downed jumbo jet near Beirut International Airport or a cruise ship casualty. Ferries and passenger vessels shuttle personnel around the Mediterranean from Cyprus, Italy, and Turkey to Lebanon. The average number of people on these cruise ships and passenger vessels range between 400 to 1,000 people.

- Port security : Unrestricted access to the major ports and heavy congestion permit illegal activity to go unchecked. The Army intelligence and the Combined Mission Operations Center monitors shipping and small boat traffic both in and out of the port.