Preserving the Lives of Belizean Seafarers Here and Beyond

Today’s not just another day at sea, it’s International Seafarers Day, a time to recognize the unsung heroes who keep global trade moving and our shelves stocked. Right here in Belize, efforts are underway to make sure every vessel in our waters is not just seaworthy, but safe for the hardworking crews on board. The Belize Port Authority and IMMARBE have teamed up for a two-week training focused on flag safety procedures. News Five’s Britney Gordon was on the ground to bring us the full story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Before any ship sets sail, it must pass a serious safety check and that includes meeting international standards tied to the flag it flies. For vessels registered under the Belizean flag, that means strict compliance with global maritime and environmental rules. To make sure those standards are met, the Belize Port Authority and IMMARBE have teamed up with experts from the Italian Shipping Academy for a special training right here at home. Acting Ports Commissioner Kaylon Young says it’s a big step forward in keeping our waters and our crews safe.

 

Kaylon Young, Acting Ports Commissioner

“Internationally we are obligated to inspect vessels. And that’s from flag state perspective and coastal State perspective. So vessels that fly oil flag internationally, they must be inspected by IMMARBE. And the foreign vessels that come into our waters must be inspected by the Belize Port authority. We don’t have these trainings here in country, so we often have to send people outside of the country to do these training and get this technical expertise. What we’ve done now is to maximize on our on our resources and brought this, brought the Italian institution here to Belize to come and train the participant’s”

 

The International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize (IMMARBE), which facilitates the registry of vessels under the Belizean flag, plays a crucial role in ensuring that these vessels adhere to conventions, laws and regulations that Belize has in effect. Kenisha Allen, of IMMARBE, says that the organization jumped on the opportunity to strengthen their inspection capacity.

 

Kenisha Allen, Office Administrator, IMMARBE

“We’re sister companies, I guess that’s the term that we can utilize. With the International Maritime Organization, Belize is a member state. Being a part of that organization, you have the flag, which is the registry, the port and coast. So we’ve all integrated into ensuring that we all have similar types of training and collaboration for different maritime events, such as the Day of the Seafarer, which is today June twenty-fifth, and is celebrated globally.”

 

The Italian Shipping Academy typically trains a limited number of participants through the International Maritime Safety Security and Environment Academy department.  This year, the organization wanted to increase the number of participants they were able to reach by travelling to Belize for the session.

 

Carmen Giordano, Italian Shipping Academy

“The Italian Shipping Academy  I.M.S.S.E.A. department is used to provide for vocational courses on maritime safety and security issues according to the IMO models, with the IMO collaboration with the IMO. I.M.S.S.E.A. is born on 2009. So since that date we are going to provide for this kind of course. And when IMMARBE and the Belize Port Authority reached us out for asking us for expertise and to improve the capacity building of their officers, we always, we directly said yes. Absolutely, yes.”

 

The academy built a model course tailored specifically to Belize’s needs to identify inefficiencies and promote safer, cleaner shipping procedures.

 

Kaylon Young

“For ships that come into Belizeans waters, we have to ensure all their emergency equipment are open park emergency, fighting gears, emergency generator. If the ship loses power, we have to ensure that the ship has sufficient means to regain back its power. If the ship loses steering. We have to ensure that the emergency steering is functional. We have to ensure if there’s a fire board, the ship has the capacity to fight this fire board. We have to ensure that the ships are not polluting discarding any pollutants in our waters. And so this training helps us to develop that capacity to know what to look for. So when we go and do our inspections, we are more equipped with the knowledge and the expertise to ensure the safety of our resources.”

This training is not just about technical procedure, it is about preserving lives and ensuring the Belize is doing its part to create safer waters globally. Britney Gordon for News Five.