Brighter days ahead for shippers after President assents to Bill

By Patrick Beja

President Kibaki’s assent to the Merchant Shipping Act (MSA) 2009 last week has raised hope that the maritime industry would grow rapidly.

Maritime experts said Kenya has now edged closer to white-listing by the United Nations International Maritime Organisation after the key Bill became law following 10 years of a campaign.

Kenya Maritime Authority Director General Nancy Karigithu termed the presidential assent as a milestone for the industry.

He said implementation of maritime safety and mandatory training of seafarers to international standards can be carried out once the law comes into effect.

Ms Karigithu said the issue of training must be looked at in the global context of a looming shortage of seafarers.

Global merchant fleet

She observed that the maritime industry has assessed that about 400,000 seafarers and 45,000 officers will be needed to crew the 10,000 vessels forecast to join the global merchant fleet in the next three years. "We have the curriculum for training seafarers to international standards. We are seeking white-listing for compliance with IMO requirements following enactment of the Bill," she said. However, Karigithi said the presidential assent came late for Kenya to present it before the ongoing IMO maritime safety committee meeting in London for immediate white-listing and clearance of its training programme.

This means Kenya may have to wait until the next such meeting in May next year.

Mr Silvester Kututa, secretary of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) Kenya chapter, said Kenyans stand to get quality jobs in the maritime industry as seafarers. "The maritime legislation comes as a boost to Kenyans. It will take many youths out of the streets for quality jobs," he said.

According to Kututa who is also managing director of the Mombasa-based Express Shipping Logistics East Africa Ltd, Kenyans have an advantage because the curricular was in English, which is the international language in shipping.

"The only challenge is that we need to market our seafaring sector to ship owners around the world the same way the Kenya Tourism Board does."