Harbousandport.com: Lagos--- The
Abuja Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is seeking a unified standard
for shipping in the West and Central Africa sub-region.
To
this end, the Sub-regional body is set host the 3rd Ministerial
Conference and 9th Port state Control Committee Meeting to harmonize
port state control inspection procedures.
 |
| Secretary General of the Abuja MoU, Mfon Usoro |
The
Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control for West and
Central African Region generally referred to as Abuja MoU is one of
the nine Regional MoUs and national MoU established pursuant to IMO
Resolution A.682 (17) of 1991.
The
Organization operates under a Cooperative Agreement with the IMO.
Abuja MoU was established on 22nd October 1999 as an
inter-governmental organization comprising of the Maritime
Administrations of countries abutting the Atlantic coast of Africa.
The
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the Director General
of NIMASA, Dakuku Adol Peterside will join other Ministers of member
states and CEOs of the Maritime Administrations to review and assess
the implementation level of actions identified at the previous
ministerial conferences and agree on further actions required to
improve maritime safety in the region.
The
3rd Ministerial Conference themed “Tightening the Net: Regional
Cooperation to Eliminate Substandard Shipping” and the 9th Port
state Control Committee Meeting will hold in Accra, Ghana from 27th
-28th of March, 2018.
The
Secretary General of the Abuja MoU, Mfon Usoro, noted that the
meeting will present an opportunity for the Ministers and CEOs of
Maritime Administrations of member states an opportunity to identify
common areas of concern that require consolidation.
Usoro
noted that the conference will ensure the strengthening of capacity
of members States and their Maritime Administrations in order to
target sub-standard ships, achieve desired regional harmonization and
cooperation of port and flag state implementation processes that will
also lead to improving the living and working conditions of shipboard
officers and crew as well as ensure prevention of pollution in the
region’s waters.
She
further disclosed that this year’s event would be highlighted by
the issuance of Ministerial Declaration by Ministers of
Transportation in the Abuja MoU region to guide the future activities
of the MoU.
The
conference will also feature the inauguration of the Minister of
Transportation of Ghana, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, as the new Chairman of
the MoU.
Speaking
ahead of the meeting, Peterside noted that NIMASA's commitment to
regional integration is aimed at improving shipping.
“African
Maritime Industry has come of age, this is why we owe the continent,
through our regional cooperation the responsibility of creating a
frame work that will aid the reduction and eventual elimination of
substandard shipping, prevention of marine pollution and improvement
of the living and working conditions of seafarers aboard ships”, he
said.
Parties
to the MoU include Nigeria, Angola, Benin, Cape Verde, Cote d’voire,
Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone,
The Gambia, Togo, South Africa and Liberia
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