The agreement means that Jamaican seafarers will now be able to serve on Kenya-flagged vessels, and vice-versa.
The unique aspect of this agreement is in the establishment of a Joint Committee on Shipping and Maritime Affairs. The joint committee’s mandate is not limited to the review of the implementation of the undertaking but extends to conducting joint studies in the field of maritime transport and facilitating discussions of maritime safety, security, education and training.
“This is a significant occasion for both our countries’ seafarers and indeed our respective maritime parent bodies and Governments as we utilise the facility of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers to allow our professional mariners to legally work on board the ships that are flagged by our two countries,” said Rear Admiral (ret’d) Peter Brady, director general of MAJ.
Jamaica now has undertakings for the recognition of certification under the STCW convention with 19 countries. This allows its nationals, who have been awarded Certificates of Competency (COC) by the MAJ, to work on the ships of these countries with whom it has a reciprocal arrangement.
Rear Admiral Brady commented: “We recognise that our seafarers must be trained and certified according to the standards laid down by the STCW Convention if international recognition is to be maintained. Our approved maritime institutions, represented here today by the Kenya Maritime Authority and the Caribbean Maritime University, and our administrations are recognised by the IMO’s panel of competent persons and are on IMO’s white list of countries which are deemed to give full and complete effect to the STCW Convention, as amended.
“This is very critical because internationally trading ships operate at global standards required by international rules and measures promulgated in treaties or conventions by the IMO, and both our countries have acceded to the STCW Convention which has been enshrined in our respective domestic laws,” he said.
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