A two-day (27-29 October) regional seminar on the enhancement of safety of ships carrying passengers on non-international voyages concluded today in Penang, Malaysia. The seminar provided an update on the latest developments undertaken by IMO in addressing safety of passengers' ships engaged in domestic services. The seminar also highlighted the need to develop a structured approach in the form of fact finding and scoping studies. In addition to the seminar, IMO held a one-day training course to teach participants how to conduct a Hazard identification (HAZID) exercise as well as learn more on the use of Formal Safety Assessment processes.
The seminar, organized within the framework of IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP), was co-funded by the Governments of Malaysia and Norway and hosted by the Maritime Department, Ministry of Transport of Malaysia. Two IMO consultants, Interferry, IACS and the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association provided expertise to the seminar which was attended by Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.