Tag: Caribbean Sea MOU

A new phase in a project to develop a maritime single window for Antigua and Barbuda has begun, with the installation of the first, basic system platform, the IMO announced. Testing will now begin and if successful, the system could potentially benefit other countries of the Caribbean and other regions of the world.

The small island countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States face serious challenges, coupled with low growth, natural disasters, high debt, unsustainable approaches to resource management. Efforts by the World Bank on behalf of the Caribbean’s blue economy have delivered significant results.

The crew of the US Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley along with the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier ship Skiathos rescued three stranded boaters, a man and two women, on June 8, 75 nautical miles south of Puerto Rico. The three were stranded at the Caribbean Sea for 21 days, after their boat became disabled and adrift.

The containerized cargo in Latin American and the Caribbean ports increased around 6.1% in 2017, according to data released by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. This shows a rebound over the last three years, when low or negative growth rates in container throughput were recorded.

In its recently-published annual piracy report, OBP reported a total of 71 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Latin America and the Caribbean Sea throughout 2017, which represents a 163% increase over 2016. Most incidents occurred in territorial waters, with anchored yachts being the primary targets for attackers.

Hamburg Süd will revise the sequence of ports in its EMCS service between Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and North Europe. The EMCS provides Member States with an electronic system to monitor the movement of these goods in real-time, in order to ensure that the duties are properly levied at the final destination.

In its 2017 State of Maritime Piracy report, Oceans Beyond Piracy says a total of 1102 seafarers were affected by piracy and armed robbery in East Africa and 100 crew members were taken hostage in West Africa, while a total of 1908 seafarers were affected in Asia and 854 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

A NYK Lines LNG carrier, "Marvel Falcon", offered humanitarian assistance to four sailors who had requested rescue, on May 13. The LNG carrier was en route from the port of Balboa, Panama, to the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in the US when the small boat was found. The four sailors disembarked from the LNG carrier on May 18.

UN-trained law enforcement units have intercepted huge shipments of illegal drugs being trafficked through seaports this year, under the Container Control Programme, jointly launched in 2003 by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization.

Latin American and Caribbean countries are at the forefront of the first effects of ocean acidification on people’s lives, was the key message of experts gathered at a meeting co-organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Santa Marta, Colombia, in early April.