The Ministry of Communications, in cooperation with the Riyadh Memorandum of Understanding, organized a regional workshop, entitled (Ballast Water Management Agreement), in which a number of marine specialists from the concerned authorities in the country participated, in addition to representatives of the maritime authorities in a number of countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
This workshop comes within the framework of the Ministry’s efforts to update the knowledge of specialists in the maritime transport sector in the relevant authorities, in the application of all international agreements concerned with preserving the marine environment as well as issues of maritime security and safety, as the Ballast Water Management Agreement is one of the important international maritime agreements. Because of its great impact in preserving the marine environment, it entered into force in 2017, and the State of Qatar joined it in 2018.
The workshop aims to help prevent the spread of harmful substances and aquatic organisms that may be transported by ships’ ballast water. It discussed all plans, procedures and standards approved for the management and disposal of ballast water. Practical training was also conducted in Hamad Port to see closely how to implement this agreement.
At the end of the workshop, Dr. Saleh bin Fetais, Assistant Undersecretary for Maritime Transport Affairs, presented certificates to the participants.
