Cayman Islands host port state control seminar

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Delegates from across the region have been meeting in the Cayman Islands as part of ongoing training and work around the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding.

The Cayman Islands hosted the 11th annual Port State Control Officer’s (PSCO) Seminar as well as the 6th annual On-the-Job Training Programme (OJT) for the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding (CMOU) on Port State Control (PSC). 

It forms part of the ongoing efforts of the CMOU to ensure that the region’s Port State Control Officers have the proper, and ongoing, training they require in order to meet the needs of keeping the CMOU functioning properly. 

PSC is globally recognised as an effective tool to reduce the number of sub-standard ships operating on the seas and involves the inspector of foreign flagged ships that call into national ports by maritime authorities around the world.  

This year’s seminar included new guidelines and training for MARPOL Annex V, which aims to eliminate and reduce the amount of rubbish being dumped in the sea from ships; the Ballast Water Management Convention, 2004 which aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another and halt damage to the marine environment from ballast water discharge. There were also updates on the SCV Code (2017) which aims to prescribe standards of construction and emergency equipment for small commercial vessels operating in the Caribbean; and for the Nairobi Convention which aims to improve the condition of the world’s oceans and coastal areas through the sustainable management and use of the marine and coastal environment. 

Attending the PSCO Seminar were CMOU Member State delegates from Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, France, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago as well as Observer State delegates of Anguilla and Sint Maarten.