Today Is World Maritime Day
Friday September 25, 2009
By Times Reporter
Today is World Maritime Day.
It is a day set
aside by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to draw attention to the changes, achievements and challenges in the world maritime trade and to celebrate the strides that have been made through international cooperation.
The theme for this year is “Climate Change: A Challenge for IMO too”.
In a message to mark the day, the Secretary General of the IMO, Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, said mankind has now come to realise, albeit belatedly, that increased concentrations of greenhouse gases and changes in global temperatures are affecting life on planet earth. He said the organisation adopted the theme for this year’s celebration in recognition of the intense focus climate change is receiving worldwide.
The IMO, he said, was consistently engaged in the fight to protect and preserve the environment, both marine and atmospheric, having achieved a breakthrough in 2008 in its efforts to reduce air pollution from ships; “we are now energetically pursuing the limitation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from shipping operations”.
Mr. Mitropoulos explained that the organisation had established an ambitious action plan to address emissions from international shipping and is working towards regulating shipping at the global level and contributing to the deceleration of climate change.
Among these measures, he said, is a package of technical and operational measures leading to an Energy Efficiency Design Index for new ships; a Ship Energy Management Plan for new and existing ships and an Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator for existing ships.
The Secretary General reiterated that “to succeed in combating climate change, we must work together and play our part with the seriousness that the circumstances demand.
We all have a responsibility to take bold, comprehensive and coordinated action that not only jump-starts the recovery of the planet, but also launches a new era of serious and meaningful engagement to prevent a crisis like the one we are facing at present from worsening or recurring”.
In his message to mark the day, the Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Mr. I. P. Azuma, saluted stakeholders and players in the maritime industry and the shipping community in the country.
He said as part of its effort to curb climate change in Ghana, the GMA had developed the Marine Pollution Bill which was currently at the Attorney General’s Department for finalisation.
The Bill is to protect and preserve the marine environment.
It incorporates Annex V1 of the International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships (73/78), the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes.
Mr. Azuma disclosed that the Authority was also doing effective Port State Control at the country’s ports to ensure that sub standard ships are prevented from operating in our waters.
“We count on the support of the entire maritime industry in the country for the achievement of the goals of the GMA and the IMO for a safer and cleaner world,” he said.
Posted under
Science /Environment
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