Ghana and Vanuatu have deposited instruments of accession to the 2012 Cape Town Agreement on the safety of fishing vessels and their crews, bringing the total number of States to accede to the Agreement to 25.
Dr. Kamal-Deen Ali, Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, and the Honourable Ralph Regenvanu, Minister for Climate Change Adaptation, Energy, Environment, Meteorology, Geo-Hazards and Disaster Management of Vanuatu, deposited their instruments with IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez at IMO headquarters (16 October).
The Cape Town Agreement, once in force, will bring in mandatory international safety requirements for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over, including provisions addressing stability and associated seaworthiness, machinery and electrical installations, life-saving appliances, communications equipment and fire protection, as well as fishing vessel construction.
For the Agreement to enter into force, at least 22 States, with an aggregate 3,600 fishing vessels meeting the length requirements operating on the high seas, must express their consent to be bound by it. Ghana and Vanuatu's accession brings the total number of fishing vessels to 3016. The Agreement will enter into force 12 months after these conditions have been met.
The Agreement will be a useful tool in combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and forced labour, as well as reducing pollution from fishing vessels, including marine debris.
In addition to the Cape Town Agreement, Vanuatu deposited instruments of accession to the:
- Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007
- International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel, 1995
- International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004
