Course for Surveyors and Maritime Inspectors opened

The Minister of Transport has disclosed at a five-day national training course for surveyors and inspectors of non-conventional ships and fishing vessels with the necessary tools to help implement the Inland Waterways Regulation Bill. “This new law, drawings and plans of new crafts and vessels would have to be approved before construction could take place. The Minister, Mike Hammah speaking in Accra reiterated that the regulatory framework of the International Maritime Organization as enshrined in the SOLAS did not generally apply to island water and non-convention fishing vessels, and commended the IMO for the support to train personnel to set safety and security standards for fishermen and women. “It is in this view that this workshop is taken place particularly in Africa in view of the type of vessels operating on the continent, including pleasure craft and island water craft.
The regulation, being finalized by the Attorney-General's Department for presentation to Parliament, would provide a framework for marine surveyors to effectively inspected. The Minister further added that these crafts have a number of characteristics which make them unique. They are many, most of them are locally constructed and their design and construction may not meet rules and standards of the recognized classification societies," he added."The survey and inspection of such vessels call for a certain level of expertise, a crucial issue which until recently had been taken for granted."The Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Academy, expressed gratitude to the IMO and Ghana navy for their collaboration with the GMA to reduce the spate of accidents on the Volta Lake, and urged the participants to be actively involved in discussions to equip themselves with the requisite knowledge and skills to ensure the safety of navigation and seaworthiness of vessels operating in the country's and enforce the safety of non-conventional vessels, including water crafts.
Mr. Issaka Azuma, the GMA boss said, Non-Convention Vessels refer to those vessels which are not covered by the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 1974.
By; Michael Amedor