SA Hosts AU Maritime Security Conference

(PANA)-- African Union (AU) ministers of transport responsible for maritime will this week gather in Durban to be part of a conference under the theme ‘Creating a safe, secure and clean maritime transport industry in Africa’.

Durban was chosen as a venue at the AU conference held in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2007-the first conference of ministers of maritime transport in Africa. Later in April 2008 the AU convened a conference of ministers of transport including all modes in Algiers, Algeria. That gathering, among others, reviewed the continental maritime transport plan of action. Since then the AU Commission has drafted a declaration on maritime safety and security to address piracy as an issue.

‘Working with the International Maritime Organisation we are improving the safety of our vessels, tightening security and navigation systems including search and rescue facilities. ‘However, there is a worrying resurgence of piracy, human trafficking and dumping of toxic waste on our coastal waters as well as illegal fishing,’ said transport minister Sbu Ndebele.

He said piracy activity was rising off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Guinea, ‘and these require our urgent attention’. The Durban conference will adopt a Plan of Action to address maritime safety and security, and it is expected to make African waters and shorelines safer and more secure.

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