The Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) is continuing its work with the United States Coast Guard on Port Safety Management.
A three-day capacity building workshop opened on Monday at Regency Suites, Georgetown, according to the Department of Public Information (DPI).
Participants include port facility security officers and representatives of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) and the Guyana Revenue Authority.
MARAD’s Chief Port Security Officer, Dwayne Nurse said all port facilities in Guyana are expected to meet international best practices. The seminar, he said, will assist in this area.
“A code was derived after several meetings of the International Maritime Organisation, which thought it was a smart thing to do following the events of 9/11 and all areas and sectors were affected”, he said, according to DPI
According to Nurse, the International Maritime Organisation saw it fit to bring the code to all port facilities around the world to mitigate maritime threats.
The collaboration between MARAD and the United States Coast Guard began back in 2014.
Among the programme facilitators at this year’s training programme is Lieutenant Commander (LCdr.) Don Davis of the US Coast Guard. He said Guyana and the US were also trading partners by sea and noted that anything that happens to maritime transportation would severely affect both countries, DPI reported.
“So, we take it very seriously, and we think it is well worth the time, money and investment to do this type of programme,” he added.
