MOU signed allowing Antiguans and Barbudans to be trained in Panamanian port facilities

Antigua and Barbuda and the Panama Maritime Authority, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, geared at widening and deepening their cooperation in the port and logistic areas.

The agreement was signed at the Global Ocean Conference taking place in Panama and the Parties also propose to set forth a framework of collaboration.

This will also allow for the development of specific activities, optimizing their management, fostering complementarity between the ports, as well as the establishment of formulas that shall achieve an integration of the Parties’ respective interests, as they shall freely agree.

The MOU will enable training in several areas including marine and port safety; the use of software for making port efficiency and measurement indicator measurements, Port planning; and the training on port causalities and incident investigations.

In addition, the Parties also agreed to promote commercial exchange, cruise ship, and maritime transportation business activities, and to foster a stronger friendly relationship between the AMP and the Antigua & Barbuda Port Authority, thus, agreeing to a special strategic agreement between both Parties.

The Parties may also take measures which they may deem necessary regarding the exchange of information, based on confidentiality, or for any other reason they may deem convenient.

“The MOU focused on cooperation port at the maritime side, where both countries could afford trained engineers, officers, and seamen, opportunities to work onboard the vessels. Panama which is the largest flat space in the world affords Antigua a significant opportunity to develop its core maritime sector…” General Manager of the Port Darwin Telemaque said.

He explained that MOU is also focused on enhancing the Ports staff’s capacity to affect operations

“Several areas are included in this MOU, the key to that would be vessel management, port operation, digital and information transfer…including crane operations, vessel planning…equipment operating, yard planning, port administrations, operation management among others”

The arrangement will afford staff from the Antigua Port Authority to travel to Panama where they will reside and work at the assigned port in Panama for about five months

They will then return to Antigua and add capacity to the environment being developed by the government and the Port Authority

“The ability to engage the number one port operating country in the Western Hemisphere to provide that level of capacity building is certainly something that should benefit Antigua and Barbuda and the people of the Caribbean,” Telemaque said.