|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 2 December 2003 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Sri Lanka has signed agreements on seafarer employment with 17 countries. Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cyprus, Dominica, Germany, Hong Kong, Liberia, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Panama, Singapore and Vanuatu are among them. It is evident from the above list the almost all the major flags have such agreements with Sri Lanka. Panama being a country with the largest figure of around 7,000 ships registered under their flag, closely followed by Liberia, have both signed agreements with Sri Lanka enabling Sri Lankan seafarers to secure employment on their vessels, a Port Development and Shipping Ministry release said. The International Convention on Standard of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, as amended, (STCW 1978), to which Sri Lanka is a party, requires seafarers holding certificates issued by any country other than the country of registry of the ship they are employed in, to be issued with equivalent certificates/endorsements by the country of registry of that ship. However, for a country to issue an equivalent certificate on the strength of a certificate issued by another country, there should be a mutual agreement between the two countries to that effect. In order for Sri Lanka to enter into agreements of such nature, we have to prove that our system of Training and Certification of Seafarers are of or above the standard set out by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as specified in the STCW Convention. Although, our system was approved by the IMO in 1999, certain countries still insist on inspecting our training and certification system and facilities, before entering into such agreements. This has been the major constraint in signing agreements with most of the remaining countries, as such inspection/audit requires sending officials physically to other countries which would involve financial and other resources, the release said. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
