Maritime Safety Fears for Jamaica

February 2013

A high level symposium hosted by the International Maritime Organization wrapped up this past week in St. James.

The event, attracting participants from 20 countries in the Caribbean region, was hosted by Jamaica and aimed at discussing critical maritime issues. The issues on the agenda were piracy, maritime safety, workers rights and environmental regulation. The Caribbean faces many significant maritime security challenges as a vital, yet diverse region.

Recent cruise ship accidents caused Jamaican Minister of Transport, Works and Housing, Dr. Omar Davies, to express concern about his country’s level of preparedness  to conduct large rescue operations if such an even should happen within Jamaica’s territorial waters.

The minister called upon all  Caribbean nations, not just Jamaica, would need to participate in shoring up their disaster response preparedness.

The world’s largest cruise ships often call at Jamaican ports and after the recent Concordia disaster in Italy, which left 32 dead, the Minister began to wonder how his region might respond: “With the recent events involving the Costa Concordia in Italy, steps should also be taken to look at a regional framework for mass rescue operations from cruise ships which are in distress.”

His Secretary, Audrey Sewell, expressed similar sentiments: “although we have come a long way in regulating maritime safety, security and environment” there is much more work to be done.

Sewell focused on the significance of the Maritime Labor Convention, which in an annual convention devoted to supporting the rights of maritime laborers. These international conventions, hosted by the IMO, make up a large part of the legislation that governs international maritime issues.

“We have to protect these interests with the same vigor that we seek economic gains from direct commercial maritime activities. They are just as critical, even more critical in some cases, as an accident at sea which may have devastating effects such as the discharge of fuel in our marine environment, loss of lives and property with far reaching implications both for the shore-side and sea, and for us in the region that rely so heavily on the sea for trade, recreation, tourism, and other economic activities”.