Getting on board the Cape Town Agreement

Ghana helps inch the Cape Town Agreement forward

Joining Vanuatu, Ghana has become the latest country to ratify the 2012 Cape Town Agreement (CTA) by officially depositing its Instrument of Accession at the London Headquarters of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

The Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Dr Kamal-Deen Ali, presented the legal instrument signed by President John Dramani Mahama to the IMO Secretary General, Arsenio Dominguez when he attending the Extraordinary Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting last week.

Despite bringing the total number of States to accede to the Agreement to more than the required number of 22, the threshold of 3,600 fishing vessels represented by these ratifications has not been met.

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.

Announcing their accension, GMA said that the milestone would help strengthen the country’s role in the Gulf of Guinea as well as assist with the enforcement of global standards within their fishing fleet while also working towards combatting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing activities.

Regenvanu, Minister for Climate Change Adaptation, Energy, Environment, Meteorology, Geo-Hazards and Disaster Management of Vanuatu, deposited their instrument.

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.

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.

PHOTO: The Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Dr Kamal-Deen Ali, presented the legal instrument signed by President John Dramani Mahama to the IMO Secretary General, Arsenio Dominguez.