Participants at last October's CSA Annual General Meeting. ONCE AGAIN, security is being given prominence on the agenda of the mid-year conference of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA), scheduled to take place at the Wyndham Miami Resort in Miami, Florida from May 19 to 20.
Consistent with the expanded security initiatives worldwide, the CSA is raising the level of alertness among its members and instigating action through panel discussions focusing on preparation and implementation of security plans.
This is against the background of new International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards and continued anti-terrorism activities and regulations in the United States. Experts, drawn from relevant resource organisations, will assist CSA members in developing security plans and manuals and offer guidelines in keeping abreast of changing standards and requirements. Following on new certification requirements of ports, the issue of security was given serious attention at the Association's Annual General Meeting last October in Martinique.
Commenting on the Miami meeting, CSA President, Capt. Rawle Baddaloo said: "This without a doubt is one of the most important meetings for our organisation. Indeed it is the most important meeting in my years of participation."
Captain Baddaloo mentioned the fact that the CSA would also be looking at proposals to strengthen and deepen its role in the continued development of the Caribbean's maritime industry. He underscored fact that shipping executives will be discussing the strategic direction of the Association, with special roundtable deliberations on the topic 'CSA Strategic Plan the Way Forward'.
Other topics to be addressed are 'State of Shipping in Miami' which will see discourse among Miami Shipping/ Cruise Lines as well as Non Vessel Operators and Common Carriers; and Port Congestion, which will seek to unearth practical solutions to this common problem.
More than 100 delegates are expected to attend the conference, including shipping agents, private stevedores, port and wharf operators, shipping lines and ship operators who serve the Caribbean. In addition, there will be a number of observers from the Caribbean, the United States and other countries. This CSA conference is being hosted by the Port of Miami and will culminate with a tour of the Port of Miami, the cruise capital of the world and one of the busiest ports in the United States of America..
The CSA Secretariat is based in Kingston, Jamaica, at the headquarters of the Shipping Association of Jamaica, 4 Fourth Avenue, Newport West. Further information can be obtained from the CSA website www.caribbeanshipping.org.
