Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts urged delegates at the 10th meeting of the Caribbean Port State Control Committee that efforts must continue to reduce the numbers of sub-standard ships in the region.
Mr. Tibbetts said the Caribbean Port State Control effort has significantly reduced the number of substandard ships in the region, producing a beneficial effect on the safety of life at sea and the protection of the marine environment.
‘We cannot, however, rest on our laurels and the effort must continue unabated,’ he told the delegation gathered at the opening of the meeting yesterday at the newly re-opened Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort.
The meeting continues until Thursday and includes delegates from Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding member states along with various other maritime organisations.
CEO (Designate) Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands and Director of the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry Joel Walton illustrated the importance of shipping when he said that more than 90 per cent of goods are moved by sea.
The International Maritime Organisation and the International Labour Organisation have set global standards for the maritime industry.
New safety approaches have been introduced following 9/11, when an additional layer of requirements have been implemented with respect to maritime security.
However, standards recently have declined because of more-relaxed shipping registers, causing classification societies to lower their sights in an effort to retain client bases, along with other factors promoting a decline in standards.
This has caused a new impetus for more effective Port State Control, leading the IMO to promote regional groupings of PSC activities. Nine regional understandings, of which the Caribbean MOU is one, now cover the globe, Mr. Walton said.
He referred to Cayman’s dependence on seaborne movement of goods and marine-based tourism.
‘Hence, there is a very real economic and social benefit to our region in preserving the marine environment. Safety standards impact directly on the safe operation of ships and hence are part and parcel of the prevention of marine pollution, though there are separate prescriptive standards for the latter,’ he said.
In terms of trade, it is not sustainable to have goods moved in substandard ships and the movement of dangerous goods puts the world at risk, he said.
‘Unless this is checked, the human and financial costs of sub-standard shipping will continue to rise. And more recently, the fight against terrorism will also suffer if reasonable maritime security standards are not set, implemented and maintained on board ships and in the physical areas controlled by our respective Port Authorities.
‘The bottom line of all of this is higher freight and charter rates, insurance costs, and eventually it increases the costs of shipped goods, with the resultant detriment on national, regional and global economic growth.’
Mr. Tibbetts pointed out that the Cayman Islands hosted the inaugural meeting of the committee in January 1997.
He spoke of Cayman’s maritime history since becoming a British Port of Registry in 1903, and how it reached Category 1 status as a British Register.
Mr. Tibbetts said Cayman was a well-developed Flag state (a state which has a significant number of ships registered under its flag) and the necessity to service that fleet in terms of applying and maintaining standards across the board regarding registration, maritime safety, the prevention of marine pollution, living and working conditions on board and maritime security.
Mr. Tibbetts said that insofar as the inspection of Cayman ships in foreign parts was concerned, it has achieved ‘white list’ status with both the Paris MOU and the United States Coast Guard.
Mr. Alfred Powery, deputy director (designate), MACI and registrar of ships, Cayman Islands Shipping Registry, spoke of the growth of Cayman’s Shipping Registry through the years, noting that on the 1 July the registry will become known as the Cayman Islands Maritime Organisation.
It will retain the same functions and attract quality ships to register here, he said.
Mr. Ivor B. English, chairman of the Caribbean Port State Control Committee, said the hosting of the meeting by the Cayman Islands, despite the difficulties it has encountered since Hurricane Ivan, is testament to the commitment of its government to support port state control in the Caribbean region.
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