Vigorous discussions relating to priority maritime issues dominated the regional meeting of senior maritime administrators and transport ministers in Montego Bay last week.

Hosted by the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, the meeting looked at the marine pollution convention (MARPOL), the Voluntary International Maritime Organisation Member States Audit scheme, maritime policy development, search and rescue, port state control and seafarers' welfare issues, among other high-level issues of importance to Caribbean countries as flag, port, and coastal states.

The final day saw the meeting of ministers, chaired by Dr Omar Davies, minister of transport, works and housing, Jamaica.

In concluding the four-day meeting, the regional ministers and senior maritime administrators committed to increase the level of accession to, or ratification of, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Labour Organisation instruments related to maritime safety and security, marine environment protection, facilitation of maritime traffic, and living and working conditions on-board ships; and in particular the level of acceptance of the MARPOL and to ensure the provision of reception facilities required.

Vital and timely

Representatives from 20 countries met to consider a list of priority programmes to be submitted to the IMO for support under its International Technical Cooperation Programme for the next biennium. In the past, such programmes have included strengthening the institutional and legislative framework of fledgling maritime administrators in the region, as well as human capacity building.

According to Davies, "the meeting was a vital and timely exercise to alert the member states to recent maritime developments at the international level, and to sensitise them to prepare themselves for, among other things, the institutionalisation of the audit scheme of the IMO. This scheme was developed as a basis to assess the degree to which IMO member states conform to their obligations. We have gained, I believe, a fuller understanding and appreciation of the critical nature of the issues of the maritime industry." Davies also saw the occasion as important for networking where states were able to share ideas and commit to boosting collaboration among themselves to improve on their maritime activities.

Full Caption: Front row (from left): Koji Sekimizu, secretary general of the International Maritime Organisation; Dr Omar Davies, minister of transport, works and housing, Jamaica; Glenys Hanna Martin, minister of transport and aviation, commonwealth of The Bahamas; Edmond Castro, minister in the Ministry of State of Works and Transport, Belize. Back row (from left): Evan McArthur Gumbs, minister of infrastructure, government of Anguilla; Trevor Walker, minister of the public works and transport, government of Antigua and Barbuda; and Chandresh Sharma, minister of transport (civil aviation and maritime), Trinidad and Tobago.