CHARLESTON, S.C., April 28, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- During the mid-term board meeting of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), board members signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA). The agreement provides what both organizations consider to be a framework to pursue cooperative projects of mutual interest including port security, port development, cooperation with government agencies, and environmental quality issues. IAPH President Pieter Struijs, vice chairman of the executive board of the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, and IAPH Secretary General Satoshi Inoue signed the agreement. Chairman Mike Leone and President and CEO Kurt J. Nagle signed the MOU on behalf of the AAPA.
"With Ports throughout the world facing the daunting imperative of accommodating dramatic growth in trade in an environmentally safe and physically secure manner, it is timely for our organizations to cooperate further," said Leone, who also serves as director of the Massachusetts Port Authority.
Struijs added, "IAPH is excited to sign this MOU with AAPA to formalize and further enhance the long-standing positive relationship between our associations. Sharing the vast amount of knowledge and experience in the membership of our two organizations will enable ports and harbors to successfully meet these and future challenges."
Dr. Inoue commented, "We are pursing other interests of entering into agreements with other regional maritime organizations such as European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) and the Pan-Africa Port Corporation (PAPC)."
The MOU can be reviewed in its entirety by visiting the IAPH website at www.iaphworldports.org.
IAPH board members also formalized year-long plans to commemorate the organization's 50th anniversary throughout the world. Beginning in Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan in January 2005, subsequent celebration ceremonies will be held in Iran, Europe, China, the U.S., and Portugal. As a part of the celebration, IAPH has pledged a perpetual contribution to exceed $30,000 to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to be presented at the IAPH's next bi-annual world conference in Shanghai, China, May 21-27, 2005.
"IAPH is proud to align with an organization that advocates social and health related issues that impact the world," stated Struijs. "We are particularly thrilled about the opportunity to support their initiatives to provide educational opportunities to youth in the coastal countries around the world."
The IAPH board endorsed the appointments of two new board members from the organization's regional committees: Eric Brassart, executive managing director of Port Autonome de Marseille, will serve as a representative of the Africa/Europe Region; Beom-Gou Kang, director of port policy division of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, will represent the Asia/Oceania Region.
IAPH board members also discussed and made decisions regarding a broad range of global maritime industry issues. The topic of places of refuge was discussed in the context of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) with an examination of the question of the relationship between a maritime and port authority of a coastal state and a ship in distress seeking shelter in a place of refuge. IAPH board members talked about the confusion over right of entrance and right of refusal with concerns about absolute right of access, absolute right of refusal on the basis of territorial jurisdiction, and the balancing of interests.
According to the Resolution Provision of Safe Havens enacted at the IAPH conference in Montreal in 2001, ports recognize that they play a pivotal role in the case of a ship in distress needing a place of refuge. In the IMO context, the Assembly Resolution A.949 (23) titled "Guidelines on Places of Refuge for Ships in Need of Assistance," which was adopted during the 23rd Assembly of IMO in December 2003, provides governments, shipmasters, shipping companies and sailors with a common operational framework for assessing the situation of ships in need of assistance. IAPH board members called for the need for a new convention on places of refuge to solve the various competing interests revolving around the issue.
A port security forum comprising representatives from the U.S., Europe and Australia was held during the meeting. The two-hour session addressed the implications of compliance with the IMO security mandates by July 1, 2004.
The IAPH legal protection committee unveiled the intentions to provide a frequently updated legal database that will include a synthetic view of conventions impacting ports in layman's language. The information will include a list of international maritime conventions, direct access to the text of the conventions, explanations of legal terms used concerning the treaty making process, files containing detailed information about the conventions. This database will be finalized in the second half of 2004, in order to be fully available at no cost to IAPH members at no cost and non-members will be charged a fee. ISPS compliance, maritime service development for landlocked countries, and impact of the new European Union trade routes were also addressed during the IAPH's exchange of views and discussions at the Charleston meeting.
About IAPH
The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) is a world ports association that represents the interests of 340 members in 85 countries and economies. Since its inception in November 1955, the mission of IAPH has been to impact port and harbor efficiency, and advocate and serve for the betterment and collective interests of the global maritime community by bringing together the vast experiences and expertise of industry leadership. IAPH has consultative status as a non-governmental organization on international maritime community such as United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), International Maritime Organization (IMO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and International Labour Organizations (ILO).
With a headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and an office in Europe, IAPH serves as the organization that represents the global views of maritime related issues. The organization has world-wide representation of public and private port authorities and operators, maritime related governmental agencies, over 100 shipping lines, stevedores, warehouse businesses, national and regional port associations, maritime related research institutes, and port-related manufacturers. IAPH member ports handled a total of 7.1 billion tons of sea trade which represented approximately 60 percent of the world trade and 85 percent of the container traffic. For more information about IAPH and how to become a member, visit the IAPH website at WWW.IAPHworldports.org.