Caribbean to Enhance Maritime Capacity

International Maritime Organization (IMO) has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Chile, to extend Chile's technical assistance to countries in the Caribbean region, in addition to Latin America.

According to the UN body, the MoU on Technical Cooperation, signed by the Directorate General of Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine (DIRECTEMAR) of the Republic of Chile, replaces earlier MoUs (signed in 2002 and 2005) and strengthens the collaboration between IMO and DIRECTEMAR for the provision of technical assistance in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region.

"This will particularly support the provision of experts (including Spanish-speaking experts) to deliver training in Latin America and the Caribbean," IMO said in a press note.

Examples of IMO training supported by DIRECTEMAR include the provisions of expert for a needs assessment mission in Colombia for the effective implementation of its search and rescue plan (April 2019); a regional workshop to raise awareness of the UN 2030 Agenda and ensure that the maritime sector is fully integrated into the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which is the main platform for the collaboration of the UN system at country level (Chile, October 2018); the provision of an expert for the delivery of a regional workshop on the general principles of drafting maritime legislation to implement IMO Conventions, to be held in Guayaquil, Ecuador (5-9 August 2019); and a planned workshop on the ratification and implementation of IMO's air pollution and energy efficiency regulations (MARPOL Annex VI), to be held in Viña del Mar, Chile (30 September-2 October 2019).

The new MoU with DIRECTEMAR will help ensure further similar activities are supported in the Caribbean, as well as in Latin America.

The MoU was signed by Vice-Admiral Ignacio Mardones Costa, Director General of DIRECTEMAR and Mr. Juvenal J.M. Shiundu, Acting Director, Technical Cooperation Division, IMO, at IMO Headquarters in London, United Kingdom (18 July).

The signing ceremony was attended by representatives of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Chile, France, El Salvador, Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Panama, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago, and the territories of Aruba (the Netherlands), Bermuda (United Kingdom), Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba (the Netherlands), French Guiana (France), Montserrat (United Kingdom) and Sint Maarten.