A reduction in the numbers of stowaways in African ports was the subject of a regional International Maritime Organization (IMO) seminar in Yaoundé, Cameroon from March 20th to 22nd.
Representatives from nine ports (Abidjan, Cape Town, Dakar, Djibouti, Durban, Lagos, Mombasa, Tema, and Takoradi) met to discuss actions taken since 2014 – when similar IMO events took place in Abidjan and Durban.
The Yaoundé seminar was organized with the National Port Authority of Cameroon and the Ministry of Transport of Cameroon, and attended by a variety of interested international organizations and IMO Member States.
Meanwhile a national maritime security training workshop was held at the Djibouti Regional Maritime Training Centre, Djibouti, from March 19th to March-23rd. It included practical exercises and a site visit to a nearby port facility as well as class-based training in how to implement the relevant provisions of the IMO’s code on International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS Code) and SOLAS Chapter XI-2 and related guidance.
The workshop was aimed at port facility security officers and other port security personnel. The training was organized by IMO at the request of the Djiboutian Maritime Authority and was conducted by IMO’s Kiruja Micheni and a team of consultants.