Business • March 7 2004

Dangerous goods transport at sea discussed

- Malta committed to International Maritime Organisation’s work

Maritime sector representatives from Malta, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Turkey this week convened at the Phoenicia Hotel for the beginning of a four-day course on the transportation of dangerous goods by sea.
The Mediterranean region’s maritime administrations, port authorities and terminal operators at the course, organised jointly by the International Maritime Organisation and the Malta Maritime Authority are discussing the issue.
Inaugurating the course on Tuesday, Transport and Communications Minister Censu Galea said the fact that Malta is hosting the course underlines Malta’s commitment to the IMO’s work and emphasises the role Malta plays in the region.
Galea comments, “The importance of maritime activities has increased with the development of the manufacturing and tourism industries and international shipping services.
“Today the Islands have a complete maritime package within a hub concept, which is proving of great benefit for the country and its economy. Furthermore maritime services have been upgraded in order to meet the increased demands and exigencies of the shipping world. Such development has taken place in consonance with the current global awareness of environmental protection and safety aspects. In fact during the last years various initiatives have been taken in this regard.”
He elaborates, “Every year Malta is visited by over 9,300 vessels. The Islands are well connected to ports around the world through a large number of liner services which operate to either Valletta or Marsaxlokk.
“Cruise lining is another major activity in the Grand Harbour of Valletta. Passenger traffic in 2003 reached almost 400,000 as cruise passengers and 150,000 as ferry passengers. In respect of cargo the ports in Malta handle almost 3.5 million tons of cargo for import and export. The number of containers transhipped through the port of Marsaxlokk had in 2003 exceeded the 1.25 million TEUs. I also wish to emphasis that Malta is one of the major flags in the world with over 3,300 vessels representing a tonnage of over 25.5 million tons. All this shows that Malta has a very important role to play in maritime safety and protection of the marine environment.”
“Malta,” Minister Galea added, “is particularly committed to transpose into national legislation and implement the relevant IMO Conventions and the related EU Maritime Acquis. In this regard technical assistance is being given from the European Union through a Twinning Project between Malta and France to establish a vessel reporting system for vessels carrying dangerous or polluting goods, to establish a vessel traffic system (VTS) and to identify the specific needs for port reception facilities for ship generated waste. Other assistance was also directed to upgrade the human resources within the Malta Maritime Authority.
“In fact one of the initial priorities was the need to upgrade the administrative and technical capacity, particularly by establishing an inspectorate regime whose function is to carry out regular inspections in respect of pollution control and maritime safety, including the carriage and handling of dangerous goods on ships and terminals in Malta.
“This regime has resulted in a greater awareness among the industry players that all port operations have to be carried out in an environmentally friendly and safe manner, particularly in view of the fact that during the last 10 years there has been a drastic increase in dangerous and polluting goods passing through Maltese ports.”
Galea also made reference to the fact that improving maritime safety and environment protection is a continuous effort and that Malta is committed to meet these challenges for the benefit of the local and regional community.
During the course the delegates will be discussing at length the newly adopted IMO International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code which has become mandatory from 1 January 2004. The IMDG Code provides an authoritative text giving advice on handling, transport, loading and unloading of dangerous cargoes and its overall aim is to ensure safety and prevent pollution resulting from dangerous goods.
The objectives of the regional course is to assist participating countries to become fully acquainted with the new provisions of the IMDG code, to raise the awareness of the advantages to be derived from the implementation of this code and to provide advice on the practical implementations of the IMDG code.