The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) will this week continue to prepare the Caribbean's maritime industry for the Voluntary International Maritime Organisation Member State Audit Scheme (VIMSAS).

Delegates representing Caribbean members states are participating in a workshop hosted by the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ). The sessions are being held at the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI).

Training is being held for the period July 4-8 and has participants from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. The VIMSAS training is being hosted by the MAJ. Delegates are being trained by IMO consultants Richard Rees, United Kingdom, and Captain Marin Petrov, Belgium.

Participants and IMO trainers were welcomed by Rear Admiral Peter Brady, director general of the MAJ. Rear Admiral Brady expressed the regions gratitude for the IMO's continued support in building capacity to ensure the Caribbean's maritime sector maintains high-level standards.

Lawrence Barchue, senior deputy director, member state audit and internal oversight services, IMO, said, "VIMSAS is an important initiative by the IMO to assess the level of implementation and enforcement of international maritime conventions by member states."

"In doing so, the outcome is intended to provide feedback to audited states on their performance and areas where they can improve, as well as areas of positive development and strength," Barchue added. He noted that to accomplish this, the IMO relies on qualified individuals nominated by member states to serve as auditors, and it is in this regard that regional training courses are held around the world to build audit capacity.

Jamaica is scheduled to be audited September 10-19 this year and is being represented at the VIMSAS training by individuals from the MAJ, the Port Authority of Jamaica and the CMI.