During my eight years as minister responsible for maritime affairs in Malta, safety, security and environment protection have been the main issues on the maritime industry agenda. This is particularly so at the European level, at the International Maritime Organisation as well in almost all other important industry fora.
Malta has always been a firm believer in propagating the notion for an enhanced maritime safety regime throughout. Over the past years Malta has adopted all the EU maritime acquis; a legislative regime that as one could deduce is at times more stringent than IMO Conventions and Resolutions.
In this context, at EU level, Malta continues to work hard to ensure that actions taken in the EU are in line with the international measures and legislation taken at IMO fora. The basis for this line of action emanates from the fact that we consider maritime activity to be international and that measures should be such that the rules are, as far as possible, similar. We do not act this way simply because the Malta Shipping Register is the second largest in EU and our ports operate within a port-system and handling circa 1.5 million TEUs and over half a million passengers every year, establishing themselves among the most important gateways in the Med. We firmly believe that for maritime safety legislation to be really effective, it must be universally recognised.
Given the current prevailing scenario in the Mediterranean involving the transit of nearly 500 million tonnes of goods and some 800 oil tankers constantly plying the Med, the Malta-Sicily channel has become among the most congested in the world. Larger container ships and tankers, the increase in cargo volumes destined or transiting the Mediterranean, the constant demand for greater port capacities in the Mediterranean, are effectively putting greater demands on ports. This has admittedly increased the responsibility of harbour masters in their finite objective to ascertain the required levels of navigation safety.
While at all times harbour masters, whether executing their duties to report to harbour authorities or whether they form part of an independent government agency, they have to ascertain the required levels of safety; of any port activity taking place. Fortunately these days, advanced technological tools are available to harbour masters in order to assist them in better monitoring shipping activities and in reaching more learned decisions based on scientific data.
Over the past years the Malta Maritime Authority, as the harbour authority in Malta, has embarked on a number of initiatives relating to navigational safety. In brief, it has carried out a maritime safety study for Maltese ports that includes a risk assessment of same and that recommends on operating envelopes in respect to technical/nautical services; it has increased its marine department administrative capacity to deal effectively with its obligations. It has developed IT systems that provide for real time information for itself and the industry at large. It is among the first EU member states that is in conformity with the EU SafeSeaNet; and it shall soon be in a position to install a VTMIS network.
The finite objectives of the MMA is to be in a position to monitor shipping effectively and to be in a position to determine relevant traffic separation schemes that would have to be concluded following agreements with neighbouring countries.
Moreover, Malta is already actively involved in the present EuroMed Transport Forum that, within the context of the EU neighbourhood policy, seeks to establish a harmonised safe navigation regime. Safety of navigation is a concern for all Mediterranean countries. Maritime accidents in this confined Basin could easily affect a number of states along the Mediterranean littoral. This calls for all-round cooperation amongst states not only within the confines of international law but more importantly within the realms of the diverse regulators and industry players. Synergy in the development of initiatives and actions is required. Such a cooperative regime involving exchange of know-how, skills and material assistance is a sine qua non.
In these respects, Malta shall, through time, seek to establish itself as a promoter of an enhanced internationally acclaimed training and education centre.
That the maritime industry in the Mediterranean is experiencing consistent yearly growths is a recognised fact. Larger volumes of cargoes, particularly given the current Asian influx, larger ships, improved or expanded port infrastructures and the need for better communication channels using real-time information through web data-basis shall certainly lead to better integration and employment growths both in shipping activities and in shore-based operations.
When discussing a way forward for shipping and ports industries, one has to develop the operative envelope extending to the diversified and ever evolving inter-modal and logistics chains. Success very much depends on research, development and innovation. Besides that, certain out of touch work practices have to be changed.
The EU is a firm believer in maritime transport given the enormous relevance the industry has in the exchange of trade amongst its 25 member states. Over the past years it has developed, revised and introduced initiatives that seek not only to further promote maritime transport but also by way of drafting legislative regimes that effectively sustain the industry.
Short Sea Shipping and the Motorways of the Sea, not to mention the up and coming green paper for a European Maritime Policy, are perhaps the primary transport pillars for EU policy in the coming years. The main objectives, as by now are certainly known to all, are to encourage a modal shift for the transport of cargoes from our roads to the sea. These initiatives are further supported not just by financial assistance but by a number of actions that ascertain maritime safety throughout. I am referring to the number of maritime packages focusing on maritime safety that have been introduced over the past years.
Of particular relevance are the latest proposals for amendments to an EU directive on traffic monitoring that also revolves around the provision of places of refuge by member states to ships requiring assistance. This topic is certainly of importance not just in the EU but worldwide, and certainly you shall have opportunities to discuss in some depth. Accommodating ships in need of assistance in a port or anchorage is highly dependent on the prevailing circumstances, the weather conditions and most importantly the particularities of the port, region or in the case of the Maltese Islands.
As an important flag-state, Malta supports initiatives targeted at facilitating maritime transport. These should ideally be integrated with other EU projects having similar objectives to ensure cost effectiveness and maximum benefit for all stakeholders. In addition, these initiatives should maximize the availability of technology to compliment our human resources, without jeopardising safety, security and environmental issues.
Malta will continue to do its utmost to ensure that shipping operations are conducted safely and to safeguard the environment so that the Mediterranean Sea will continue to be beneficial in economic and social terms to future generations
Censu Galea is Competitiveness and Communications Minister