About the Caribbean MOU

February 9, 1996 marked a major watershed in the history of maritime transport in the Caribbean Region with the signing of the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control. This historic occasion took place in Christ Church Barbados. This was in reality a successful culmination of years of discussion, research and assistance from the International Maritime Organisation with the lead person being Captain Barrie Rial (RMA).

The two Maritime Administrations which were most active in carrying the process forward were the Maritime Services Division of Trinidad and Tobago and the Maritime Administration of Barbados. The CMOU is greatly indebted to the following organizations which made significant contributions to its formation:

The Paris MOU which outlined most of the guiding principles
The United States Coast Guard offered support in every way possible and still continues to assist the region in terms of training attachments for Port State Inspections and other training initiatives.
Lloyd’s Registry Fairplay who worked on the Carib Ship Data Base

The CMOU was signed by the following states of the Caribbean:

Antigua and Barbuda
Barbados
Dominica
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
Netherlands Antilles
Suriname
Trinidad & Tobago

However, the following were the inaugural members of the Caribbean Port State Control Committee:

Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Cayman Islands
Grenada
Jamaica
Netherlands Antilles
Trinidad & Tobago

The first Chairman of the CMOU Port State Control Committee was Lt. Cdr. Curtis Roach of Trinidad and Tobago, the Vice Chairman was Captain Hopeton Delisser of Jamaica and the first Secretary was Ms. Valerie Brown Director of Maritime Affairs of Barbados.

Initially, the Secretariat was located in Barbados at the office of the Maritime Administration. The Secretariat was subsequently relocated in Jamaica in 2002 at the Maritime Authority of Jamaica.

The CMOU is evolving, from the onset there was an offer from the Netherlands Antilles to host the Caribbean Maritime Information Centre (CMIC) however, there were some administrative limitations with regard to the receipt and input of data. In 2003 at the Port State Control Committee Meeting, Suriname was selected as the host state for the CMIC. The system was contracted from Transport Canada.

The Port State Control Committee meetings are hosted by the respective member states on a rotating basis. To date there are twelve (12) members on the Committee however, there have been two formal applications for membership from Belize and St. Kitts and Nevis.

The establishment of the CMOU has been rightly regarded as a catalyst for the advancement and development of Maritime Administrations in the Caribbean Region, since member states were expected to have well established maritime administrations precedent to the carrying out of Port State Control. There was also a collaboration with IMO and the Port State Control Committee through the office of the Regional Maritime Advisor Lt. Cdr. Curtis Roach to ensure that member states accede to the Key International Maritime Conventions.

It is no secret that Port State Control has been a driving force relative to Flag State implementation. The CMOU on Port State Control remains committed to the eradication of sub standard shipping not only in the Caribbean region but on a Global level.