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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
The
Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP) of the Organization of American
States (OAS) today inaugurated the First Annual Workshop on Maritime
Safety in order to strengthen the institutional capacities of the
countries of the region in the area, emphasizing
high quality training and the presentation of best practices, and the
importance of this sector for the economic and social development of the
Hemisphere.
The three-day workshop is organized in collaboration with the Maritime
Administration of the Department of Transportation of the United States
(MARAD) and the U.S. State Department through the country’s Permanent
Mission to the OAS. The event features the participation
of representatives of port authorities from 18 member states, and is
being held at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC.
During the inauguration, the Executive Secretary for Integral
Development (SEDI) of the OAS, Sherry Tross, stressed the importance of
maritime safety, stating that the majority of world trade is conducted
through ports and their logistics networks. “The fact
that the maritime industry and ports are the main nodes in the global
physical network of shipping that manages more than 80% of goods
worldwide, should be enough to warrant close attention to this most
important issue,” she said.
Executive Secretary Tross stressed the importance of strengthening
institutional capacity through high quality training and the sharing of
best practices in the area of port safety among OAS member states. In
addition, the SEDI leader said “ports and the maritime
industry contribute significantly to sustainable economic development
and social equity and welfare.” “Together with a network of efficient
transport,” she added, “ships and ports are prerequisites for social
inclusion in the main economic activities and in
access to services”.
“The development of safe, sustainable, and competitive maritime and
ports sectors in the Americas has an impact on trade and the
socio-economic development of OAS member states,” said Secretary Tross,
and adding that they “promote social welfare and contribute
to the strengthening of democracy.”
For his part, Paul Jaenichen, Acting Administrator of the Maritime
Authority of the United States (MARAD), emphasized the importance of
standards and regulations in the area of maritime safety. "Our community
is not immune to accidents or tragedies," said Jaenichen
and, as an example, recalled the sinking in 2002 of the Prestige oil
tanker off the coast of northwest Spain; the Costa Concordia cruise ship
accident near the coast of Italy in 2012 which killed more than 30
people; and the recent sinking of the Sewol ferry
in South Korea which led to the loss of some 300 victims.
Jaenichen noted that these accidents were caused by different causes
including increased hazard by rising seas, poor mechanical maintenance,
or human error. "But they all had something in common: each of them was
preventable," said the Acting Administrator
of MARAD, who advocated for a standard set of safety rules in the
maritime community.
For his part, the Secretary of the CIP, Jorge Durán, coincided with
Jaenichen in saying "the issue of safety is important to all sectors of
maritime and port activities." In this regard, he noted that "the
Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee on Ports
is committed to contributing to a better development of the port sector
in the Americas and one of the ways to do this is to strengthen
institutional capacities."
Secretary Duran also said "the protection of ports and their safety" is one of the six priority areas contained in the
Declaration and Plan of Action of Cartagena approved by the CIP at its eighth meeting
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at
www.oas.org.
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