Maritime Consultant Advocates Viable ICT For Port Activities

A consultant to the Abuja Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control (PSC) has called for a viable information communication and technology centre to improve efficiency of ports.
Capt. Richard Day, an official of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), made the call in Uyo last weekend at the end of a three-day workshop for heads of Maritime Administration in West and Central Africa.  
The workshop was organised by IMO and Abuja MoU Secretariat.

A consultant to the Abuja Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control (PSC) has called for a viable information communication and technology centre to improve efficiency of ports.
Capt. Richard Day, an official of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), made the call in Uyo last weekend at the end of a three-day workshop for heads of Maritime Administration in West and Central Africa.  
The workshop was organised by IMO and Abuja MoU Secretariat.
Day told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that a well equipped information centre and data exchange was necessary for modern maritime safety and security.
PSC is an international law which gives the state the sovereign right to inspect foreign ships entering its ports to ensure compliance with international conventions.
“The training of control inspectors, the ratification of pertinent instruments used for ships control inspection by port states and the implementation of national information centres remain the first key component of any action plan,’’ he said.
He, however, urged the African heads of maritime administrations to strive for current trends in global information for maritime safety and security.
“It is, therefore, important that we all commit ourselves to further cooperation toward the ratification of and search for a harmonised position on the implementation of pertinent maritime safety documents of the IMO.
Meanwhile, a communiqué issued at the end of the workshop called for effective implementation and operation of Abuja MoU on PSC information centre located in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo.
The communiqué noted that improving the information centre would enhance the PSC activities tremendously.
It also called for the usage of the provisional Port State Inspection Portal for efficient function of the Ports.
 “This will develop a system of harmonised PSC inspection procedure for the region to reduce and eliminate substandard shipping, prevent marine pollution and improve living and working conditions of seafarers aboard ships,’’ the communiqué stated.
NAN recalls that the Abuja MoU on PSC came into existence in Oct. 1999 when 19 countries in the sub-region signed the MoU for West and Central Africa in Abuja from where it derived its title.
The workshop, which drew participants from 20 African countries, was aimed at revitalising maritime administration in the West and Central Africa to improve their performance of their PSC mandate.