The IMO (World Maritime Organization) assessed the needs of the maritime sector of the country of Malawi, to make recommendations on the improvement of regulation to support and provide the supervisory function to the marine college by the relevant government ministry, in accordance with the provisions of the IMO International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention), according to IMO.
IMO delegates met with senior government officials from the Ministries of Transport and Public Works; External relationships; and various key stakeholders, including the Marine College and other related government agencies.
Subsequently, in its assessment, IMO identified gaps in Malawi’s maritime administration to which the government assists the country’s emerging maritime sector with the development of the necessary human and institutional capacity to help the country improve the operational efficiency of its maritime administration.
Aligned with the IMO programme: Women in Maritime, the IMO team met with Malawi maritime women to encourage and support them in establishing a so-called ‘national chapter’.
This national chapter would then feed into the regional association of Maritime Women in Eastern and Southern Africa (WOMESA) as an important platform for synergy and cross-fertilization of ideas on issues related to women in the maritime sector in member countries.
Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa without direct access to the sea but connected via land and rail corridors to the port of Dar Es Salaam in the United Republic of Tanzania and the Nacala corridor in Mozambique.
However, Malawi has a navigable lake that stretches about 570 kilometers from north to south and some rivers that are used by both cargo and passenger ships.
Source: IMO
