E. Africa Focus on Marine Environ Protection

International Maritime Organization (IMO) has been working with southern and eastern African countries to help implement marine environment protection measures contained in one of the organization’s flagship treaties – MARPOL.

A workshop held in Mombasa, Kenya (17-19) gathered participants from 12 countries to focus on MARPOL Annexes I to V, and in particular the regulations covering garbage discharge from ships and adequacy of port reception facilities. The participating countries were - Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania (United Republic of).

Participants discussed factors affecting full implementation of MARPOL and its annexes, including those issues identified during audits carried out under IMO's Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS).

According to IMO, these factors included incomplete transposition of the convention and its amendments into national legislation. Regional and national actions to address the existing barriers hampering full implementation and enforcement were agreed.

During the workshop, which was organized with the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), participants also visited the waste reception/recycling facilities in the port of Mombasa and discussed the waste facility licensing scheme and port waste management plans.

The Maritime Technology Cooperation Center (MTCC) for Africa, based in Mombasa, updated participants about their work on supporting implementation of MARPOL Annex VI and, in particular, the requirements on energy efficiency of ships.