Ghana marks World Maritime Day Celebration

Ghana has joined the rest of the world to mark the 2021 World Maritime Day celebration under the theme: "Seafarers: at the Core of Shipping's Future."

Marking the day in Accra, the Executive Director for the Institute for African Maritime Development, Chief Obosu Mohammed noted that the theme for this year's celebration reflects on the essential role seafarers continue to play in promoting maritime trade globally.

Chief Obosu, in a statement issued in Accra by his outfit said it is important to create awareness on the visibility of seafarers and to also pay profound tribute to their significant contribution towards the global supply chain.

He therefore proposed a three-point strategic intervention to ensure the enhancement of the standard of living and working conditions of seafarers.

He proposed for the strict compliance of the Maritime Labour Convention, MLC 2006 by the various ports, which according to him is essential to improve the wellbeing and health of seafarers, and a decent work and economic growth under the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 of the United Nations.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and relevant maritime stakeholders were also urged to undertake an assessment of the MLC 2006 by measuring its impact on the living and working conditions of seafarers and make the necessary amendments accordingly.

The Institute of African Maritime Development boss, further called for stringent sanctions to be applied to Port and Flag State countries that are not yet ratified or have inferior laws to the MLC 2006.

"To this end, we join many other stakeholders to extend our warm appreciation to all seafarers across the nations of the world", Chief Obosu Mohammed concluded.