An Action Plan to address key concerns surrounding the safety of domestic ferries

An Action Plan to address key concerns surrounding the safety of domestic ferries
in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) was adopted by a forum on the
subject, organized by IMO and held in Suva, Fiji, from 30 October to 2 November 2012
Recent losses of domestic ferries worldwide, including
the sinking of the Rabaul Queen in Papua New
Guinea in February 2012, have increased awareness
of the need to consider a more holistic approach to
domestic ferry safety. The Pacific Forum provided an
opportunity for PICTs, development partners and key
organizations and the maritime industry as a whole,
to collaborate in discussion. The intention now is to
develop regional support to address specific national
solutions, thus ensuring that domestic ferry safety
policies, procedures and activities will be effective,
sustainable and relevant to local situations.
The Pacific Forum focused on a number of broad
issues related to domestic ferry operation including
safety programmes, vessel-specific concerns,
legislative, regulatory and compliance matters,
seafarer training and certification, operational issues,
search and rescue and safety awareness activities.
Current and emerging domestic ferry safety issues
were discussed at the Forum, as well as concerns
and trends from international, regional and national
perspectives. The goal was to identify outcomes
that can be put into practice by national Maritime
Administrations and the maritime industry, resulting in
safer ferry operations throughout the region.
Through the Action Plan, participants in the Forum
hope to sensitize the authorities in the region to the
need for urgent measures to be taken to address their
core concerns.
The Pacific forum followed the success of the
Regional Forum on Domestic Ferry Safety held in
Bali, Indonesia, on 6 and 7 December 2011. It was
organized by IMO under its Integrated Technical
Co-operation Programme, in collaboration with the
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). It was
funded by the IMO Technical Co-operation Fund,
SPC, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and
industry organizations in the region.
The Pacific Forum was attended by forty-five
participants from the public sector (administrators and
policy makers) and private sector (shipowners, operators,
maritime training institutions) that have responsibility
for the implementation, enforcement and application of
national requirements related to the safety of domestic
ferries in their countries. Fifteen countries from the Pacific
Islands region were represented at the Forum