The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is working with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Antigua and Barbuda to establish a Maritime Single Window (MSW).
IMO member states are required to use the centralised digital platform to streamline procedures to clear the arrival, stay, and departure of ships and enhance the efficiency of shipping worldwide.
Work is underway in St. Lucia (5-8 August), where the first of five needs assessment missions is taking place this year. This will be followed by missions in St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and Dominica.
At the end of each mission, a gap analysis report of the current clearance system and identification of needs and cost analysis to establish an MSW system will be produced.
The needs assessment missions are part of a broader feasibility analysis conducted by experts from the OECS Commission and Antigua and Barbuda as an in-kind contribution.
Beyond creating MSWs, the aim is to connect the systems to a mechanism that supports a regional central repository leveraging the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency on Crime and Security-Joint Region Communication Centre (CARICOM IMPACS-JRCC).
In St. Lucia, The Ministry of Infrastructures, Port Services and Transport of St. Lucia hosted the meetings with national regulatory agencies and private stakeholders and provided logistical and administrative support.
Just recently, the IMO launched a new toolkit to help the global maritime industry respond better to “insider threats”.