IMO is continuing to assist countries with the highest number of stowaway incidents by spreading the knowledge of effective port security measures, and, thereby, helping to facilitate the free flow of international maritime traffic.
At workshops in the ports of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (11-15 December) and Dakar, Senegal (18-22 December) participants from the relevant national authorities are being trained to plan and conduct effective self-assessments and internal/external audits of port facilities, in line with IMO guidance on voluntary self-assessment.
Consultants will also assess the ports' compliance with stowaway provisions in IMO's Facilitation Convention and with recommendations adopted by a regional conference on stowaways held in 2014.
Both workshops follow on from similar events that took place in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Tema, Ghana, last month. They are funded by the Government of Denmark and carried out in conjunction with Côte d'Ivoire's national authority for maritime affairs and ports (DGAMP) and Senegal's national agency for maritime affairs (ANAM).