There are 14 IMO member states in Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand. Photo: IMO
Pacific island member states of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) will have a new regional office for the United Nation's global shipping regulator to "work in step with the region".
It comes after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez and Fiji's Transport Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau at the IMO headquaters on Monday, as global shipping industry stakeholders are meeting for the 81st session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC81) meeting in London.
There are 14 IMO member states in Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand and the new office in hosted by Fiji is expected to support the maritime needs and priorities of countries and territories in the region.
The regional office - which recieved financial and in-kind support from Australia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands - will also help with aligning IMO actions with national and regional development policies, while providing advice on key maritime issues such as training, safety and security, legislation and marine environment,
The Office will facilitate active field-level engagement in the delivery of IMO's technical cooperation framework.
"The IMO Pacific Regional Presence Office provides an opportunity to address critical issues, including the challenge of providing an efficient inter-island shipping service, to ensure the safety of our Pacific people in inter-island shipping," Tuisawau said.
"As host of this regional office, Pacific member states will be assisted in addressing global standards for ships, and compliance issues related to energy efficiency, safety equipment and maintenance of safety systems according to IMO standards."
The new office in Suva will be IMO's seventh regional office and will be headed by a regional coordinator.
"I welcome the opportunity to enhance the global presence of the IMO as well as the organisation's ability to work in step with the Pacific region and member states," Dominguez said.
IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez and Fiji's Transport Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau at the IMO headquaters in London on Monday. Photo: IMO