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Panama and Singapore ink agreement to strengthen maritime relationsPanama and Singapore ink agreement to strengthen maritime relations

A high-level delegation from Singapore, led by Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Health visited Panama, meeting for the first time with officials of Panama’s new government.

Michele Labrut, Americas Correspondent

September 19, 2019

2 Min Read
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He was accompanied by Mary Seet-Cheng, Non-Resident Ambassador of Singapore to Panama, as well as officials from the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Enterprise Singapore.

During the visit, Quah Ley Hoon, chief executive of the Maritime Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore and Noriel Araúz, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen maritime relations between both countries.

Under this MoU, the maritime authorities of Panama and Singapore will co-operate on maritime matters including the promotion of the use and acceptance of ship’s electronic certificates to facilitate port state inspections, the exercise of port state control (PSC) inspections by both countries, as well as personnel exchange.

Vessels registered with either Panama or Singapore calling at each other’s ports will benefit from faster checks and clearances. The use of electronic certificates and cooperation on PSC reduces administrative burden of issuing, sending and keeping hard-copy certificates on board, facilitates regulatory oversight and enforcement action by the authorities and expedites port clearances.

“The Singapore and Panama ship registries are among the largest in the world. This cooperation will strengthen maritime relations between our two countries. It will also yield significant benefits through speedier port clearances for vessels registered with our two countries calling at our ports,” said Minister Lam.

“Panama's and Singapore's maritime sectors have always had excellent relations but this MoU between our countries will address important technical issues for both Ship Registries. We are pleased to cooperate and bring to our customers and ship owners the most advanced technologies to alleviate the administrative burden and facilitate access to port state inspections, port state control inspections, and port clearances. It will be of great benefit for Singapore and Panama Ship Registries," said Araúz, who was designated Minister of Maritime Affairs and head of AMP in July 2019 by President Laurentino Cortizo.

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About the Author

Michele Labrut

Americas Correspondent

Michèle Labrut is a long-time Panama resident, a journalist and correspondent, and has continuously covered the maritime sector of Central & Latin America.

Michèle first came to Panama as a press attaché to the French Embassy and then returned to the isthmus as a foreign correspondent in the 1980s.

Author of Seatrade Maritime's annual Panama Maritime Review magazine and of several books, Michèle also wrote for Time magazine, The Miami Herald, NBC News and the Economist Intelligence Unit. She has also collaborated in making several documentaries for the BBC and European and U.S. television networks.

Michèle's profession necessitates a profound knowledge of the country, but her acumen is not from necessity alone, but a genuine passion for Panama.

In 2012 she was awarded the Order of Merit (Knight grade) by the French Government for her services to international journalism and in 2021 the upgrade to Chevalier grade.

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