Somalilandsun – The period 2015-2025 has been declared as “Africa’s Decade of the Seas and Oceans” by the African Union Heads of State and Government meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (25 July).
Attention will be focused on Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIM-Strategy), to which the International Maritime Organization- IMO is supporting Africa through technical cooperation that has so far seen Africa’s “Decade of the Seas and Oceans” strategy as well as a training in Ghana on Information sharing to fight piracy and illegal fishing being beneficiaries.
Nearer Home both Djibouti and Ethiopia have received IMO’s support towards construction of training centre and maritime education and training respectively
Read full details of IMO Interventions in Djibouti , Ethiopia and Elsewhere in Africa
PROGRESS ON CONSTRUCTION OF DJIBOUTI TRAINING CENTRE
The Government of Djibouti has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring timely completion of the Djibouti Regional Training Centre in Doraleh, Djibouti, which will be a vital component in provision of security training in east Africa. IMO’s Kiruja Micheni was in Djibouti to monitor progress (27-28 July). Mr Said Nouh Hassan, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Transport and Equipment, reiterated the Government’s commitment to ensuring that the centre is completed in line with the amended Memorandum of Understanding signed between IMO and the Government of Djibouti on 3 June 2015.
This requires the centre to be completed by 31 October this year, prior to an inauguration ceremony no later than 18 November 2015, at which representatives of all signatory states of the Djibouti Code of Conduct, key donors and implementing partners are expected to participate.
SUPPORTING MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN ETHIOPIA
As part of IMO’s efforts to give effect to this year’s World Maritime Day theme of Maritime Education and Training, IMO has carried out a fact-finding mission to the Ethiopian Maritime Training Institute (EMTI), with a view to helping the institute upgrade its facilities (21 July). EMTI provides specialised training for deck, engineer and electro-technical officers for ships, in compliance with the IMO convention that specifies global standards of training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers (the STCW Convention).
Juvenal Shiundu and William Azuh from IMO’s Technical Co-operation Division undertook the mission, assisted by officials from the Ethiopian Maritime Affairs Authority and from EMTI. EMTI operates as a faculty within the University of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
SUPPORTING AFRICA’S “DECADE OF THE SEAS AND OCEANS”
The period 2015-2025 has been declared as “Africa’s Decade of the Seas and Oceans” by the African Union Heads of State and Government meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (25 July). Attention will be focused on Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIM-Strategy), to which IMO’s work to support Africa through technical cooperation will contribute. The formal launch was attended by IMO’s Juvenal Shiundu and William Azuh of the Technical Cooperation Division.
The African Union’s Maritime Charter and the 2050 AIM-Strategy were developed with the collaboration of IMO and formally adopted by the 22nd African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government in January 2014. The 25 July will be marked on each year, throughout Africa, as the “African Day of Seas and Oceans”
INFORMATION SHARING TO FIGHT PIRACY AND ILLEGAL FISHING
IMO’s Chris Trelawny has visited the Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre (MTISC-GoG), located in the Regional Maritime University of Accra, Ghana (24 July). The multinational centre provides advice and information to merchant shipping operating in the Gulf of Guinea. At the time of the visit over 630 ships were exchanging information with the centre. In recent months the centre has provided support to ships and authorities to assist in countering piracy and illegal fishing, as well as supporting search and rescue operations. The watchkeeping staff who operate this centre come from the navies of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo, the Liberian Maritime Authority and from private companies and are supported by Merchant Navy liaison officers. The centre is funded by the Oil Companies International Marine Forum, IMO Member Governments and by the IMO West and Central Africa Maritime Security Trust
About IMO
IMO – the International Maritime Organization – is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.
As a specialized agency of the United Nations, IMO is the global standard-setting authority for the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping. Its main role is to create a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective, universally adopted and universally implemented.
In other words, its role is to create a level playing-field so that ship operators cannot address their financial issues by simply cutting corners and compromising on safety, security and environmental performance. This approach also encourages innovation and efficiency. Read More
