The Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control¹ (CMOU) held its 16th Committee meeting in St. George’s, Grenada from the 26 – 28 of July, 2011². During this meeting, the Committee unanimously approved the applications of the Netherlands and Curacao as its 14th and 15th Member States of the MOU, following successful fact finding missions.

Participants of the CPSCC 16 Meeting

Training continues to be of priority to the Member Administrations and as such the Secretariat provided an overview of the training activities that were held during the year. In addition, an update with respect to the ‘On-The-Job’ training programme for the PSCOs of the region was presented and it was highlighted that the International Maritime Organisation has indicated its willingness to investigate the possibility of providing funding for this programme. The Cuban delegation reaffirmed their willingness to assist with this matter due to the large cadre of trained inspectors. Subsequent to the Meeting, the Netherlands also indicated their support of this programme and their willingness to have officers participate in such a programme in Bonaire.

Members were advised of the successful staging of the 3rd Annual Port State Control Seminar held in Freeport, Bahamas from February 1 – 3, 2011. Participants were able to inspect both a Cruise ship as well as a Cargo ship in dry dock, thanks to Det Norske Veritas, Lloyd’s Register North America, Celebration Cruise lines and Carnival Cruise lines. In addition, participants were taken through a series of case studies on various PSC matters and a presentation on the Human Element was also enthusiastically received.

In addition, various Member States agreed to lead various task groups to finalise some technical issues. These issues had arisen from the meeting of the Technical Standing Work Groups (TSWG) as well as from the PSC Seminars recently held. The Netherlands has agreed to spearhead the revision of the CMOU PSC Manual with the assistance of the Regional Maritime Adviser (RMA); Antigua and Barbuda has agreed to lead the development of a Targeting Matrix for the CMOU; the Bahamas has agreed to lead the development of a harmonized Banning Procedure for the CMOU; Jamaica has agreed to continue to develop an Appeals Procedure for the CMOU and Trinidad and Tobago has agreed to lead the development of Concentrated Inspection Campaigns (CIC) to be implemented in the near future. The Bahamian delegation indicated that they were no longer in a position to continue to chair the TSWG and as such they were thanked for their work over the last two years. The Jamaican delegation has indicated their willingness to Chair the Technical Standing Working Group for the upcoming period.

The Committee adopted the 2010 Annual Report including the overview of the activities of the CMOU for the period and the statistics including inspections totaling 815, deficiencies reported totaling 463 and 12 detentions. The Secretary General of the CMOU, Mrs. Jodi Barrow stated: “The figures for 2010 indicate that inspections increased over the same period for 2009 however, the CMOU saw less deficiencies and had less detentions. This is definitely due to the efforts of the CMOU to train its officers and have a harmonized system of PSC inspections throughout the region. In addition, the continued cooperation among the MOUs has allowed our officers to target ships more effectively. The CMOU is however cognizant of the need to ensure that we are focused on our mandate of eliminating sub-standard ships from our region.”

The CMOU continues to have excellent relationships with port State control regimes in other areas of the world and other Observer Organisations. The meeting heard reports from the Paris MOU, the IMO through the Regional Maritime Adviser (RMA), the USCG, the USCG 7th District and Lloyd’s Register North America. Their insight and co-operation has been essential in the continued development of the CMOU.

The Chairman of the Committee noted, “I am very pleased with the outcome of this meeting as our targets have not only been achieved but surpassed. I would like to congratulate the Secretariat for their efforts with respect to the continued training of our officers over the period. I look forward eagerly to the implementation of the On-The-Job training programme currently being developed with the assistance of the IMO.”

Chairman, Mr. Dwight Gardiner presents award to Mrs. Valerie Browne, Former Secretary of the CMOU (1996 – 2002).

The CPSCC also took the opportunity to present an award to Ms. Valerie Browne of Barbados for her outstanding services as Secretary of the CMOU from 1996 to 2002. It was noted that Valerie Browne could be considered as the mother of the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (CMOU), as Mrs. Browne had requested assistance from the IMO Secretariat to develop a Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Caribbean. Amb. Dwight Gardiner, the Chairman of the CMOU and representative of Antigua and Barbuda, stated: “Her work with the CMOU as well as the institutional knowledge that she possesses is invaluable.” In addition, remarks from the former Regional Maritime Advisor, Commander Curtis Roach and former Chairman of the CMOU, Capt. Barrie Rial were also delivered. In response, Ms. Browne indicated her thanks to the CMOU for the award and stressed the importance of the Member States of the CMOU to progress the development and achievements of the CMOU.