To foster closer collaboration in the continued development of the CMOU, the Chairman of the CMOU, Mr. Dwight C.R. Gardiner of Antigua and Baubuda, has initiated a programme of visiting the Member States of the CMOU. On January 19, 2010, Mr. Gardiner made his initial stop in Jamaica to meet with the Secretariat as well as the Maritime Authority of Jamaica. His discussions with the Secretariat included the following areas:

1. 2nd Annual PSC Seminar scheduled for April 20-22, 2010;
2. Work Programme for 2010;
3. Performance Review of the Secretary and the Administrative Assistant; and
4. CPSCC Annual Meeting scheduled for July 27-31, 2010 in Curacao.

During this visit, Mr. Gardiner also met with Rear Admiral Peter Brady, Director General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ). He thanked the MAJ and more specifically the Government of Jamaica, for their support of the CMOU and the continued commitment to host the Secretariat in Jamaica. He also expressed congratulations to Rear Admiral Brady for his re-election as Chairman of the STW Sub-Committee of the IMO during the 41st session held from 11 to 15 January 2010.

The second stop for the Chairman was to Suriname on January 20, 2010 to meet with Mr. Michel Amafo, Director General of the Maritime Authority of Suriname as well as Mr. Majere Ajambia, Database Manager of CMIC. He thanked Mr. Amafo for the hosting of CMIC and discussed various matters of concerns with regard to the operations of CMIC, including the need to have an evaluation of the system completed. In addition, the Chairman expressed his thanks to the Government of Suriname for their continued pledge to host the CMIC in Suriname.


The Chairman then took the opportunity to visit Trinidad on January 21, 2010 where he visited with the Chairperson of the Finance and Administrative Standing Work Group (FASWG), Ms. Beverly Phillip to discuss the areas being considered by the Sub-Committee. In addition, Mr. Gardiner met with Mr. Colin Young, RMA of the IMO and spoke on matters of further cooperation for the CMOU and the IMO.



The Secretariat will be contacting the Member States in the near future to make arrangements for the continued visits of the Chairman. The next such stop is scheduled for the Bahamas followed by Belize and the Cayman Islands in February 2010.