IMO: Going The Extra Nautical Mile For Vessel Safety
Secure merchant shipping is provided by SOLAS that is a key ship safety of IMO. It covers a number of topics from ship construction to fire protection, to appliances that are life-saving and cargo carriage.
However, the SOLAS is mostly applicable to ships that are more than a certain size that goes for international voyages. The IMO is now trying to make improvements in the safety of ships even more by expanding to the ‘non-SOLAS’ vessels.
These comprise vessels that are below the gross tonnage of 500 like fishing vessels, domestic ferries, private yachts, and small cargo vessels.
A regional training course on non-SOLAS ship inspections was arranged by IMO in San Salvador, El Salvador to help improve the safety of vessels in Central and South America. Training on how national criteria can be brought together on maritime safety, maritime security and pollution prevention was received by the representatives of six countries namely, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
In collaboration with Prefectura Naval Argentina (PNA) the course was organized. The Central American Commission of Maritime Transport (COCATRAM) that is the Regional partner of IMO implemented it and was hosted by El Salvador.
Reference: imo
