A regional workshop supporting the countries of the Wider Caribbean Region in establishing and strengthening best practices for the management of ships’ ballast water and sediments has taken place in Cartagena, Colombia (18-20 October).
This in-person workshop covered implementation and enforcement of the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention. Participants assessed the state of play of the Regional Task Force on the Ratification and Implementation of the BWM Convention in the Wider Caribbean Region and El Salvador, which had been established as a regional support mechanism within the framework of UNEP's Caribbean Environment Program, focussing on progress made since then and on future goals.
The workshop served as an opportunity for almost 50 government officials * to exchange best practices and discuss lessons learned on implementation and enforcement of the BWM Convention, with a view to enhanced ballast water management in the region through ratification, implementation and enforcement.
To achieve these objectives, the workshop incorporated some presentations by IMO and experts from the region and beyond. The main focus was on discussions among the countries, supported by IMO’s Theofanis Karayannis and experts from Singapore and the United States, to identify next steps and actions in connection with aspects of ballast water management identified as priorities for the region. This included initiatives that should be adopted to improve regional coordination and harmonization in the implementation of the BWM Convention and the overall management of ships’ ballast water and sediments in the region.
The workshop was implemented through IMO's Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme, with support by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Centre - Caribe (RAC/REMPEITC-Caribe) and additional expertise provided by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) through the Singapore-IMO Third Country Training Programme (TCTP)
*from Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.