TASAC seals seafarers’ deal with Barbados
TANZANIA: THE Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (TASAC) has continued its efforts to open up opportunities for Tanzanian seafarers internationally after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Barbados, so that the two countries can recognise the certificates of seafarers from each side.
According to the corporation’s Director General, Kaimu Mkeyenge currently Tanzania has so far registered 17,689 seafarers’ certificates.
He said the number of certificates for qualified seafarers has increased to 17,689 in 2021/22 up from 5,699 in 2018/2019.
Speaking recently in London, England after the signing the MoU, Mr Mkeyenge ,who is also the Registrar of Seafarers and Ships in the country, said that so far Tanzania has initiated communication and discussions with 34 countries for entering into an agreement on the recognition of the certificates of the seafarers in those countries.
In particular, Mr Mkeyenge said the move will not only create opportunities for international jobs for Tanzanian seafarers but will also help to remove inconvenience of disembarking Tanzanian seafarers in various ships that are registered in countries that Tanzania does not have an agreement with.
According to him, Barbados is an island country in the Caribbean, located approximately 430 kilometres North-East of Venezuela. Until now it has an open registry with favourable conditions (open registry) of 400 ships.
To the west, most of Barbados’ maritime boundaries consist of median lines with neighbours. The neighbours include: Martinique and Saint Lucia to the northwest, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the west, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela to the southwest and Guyana to the southeast.
“Barbados is one of the countries with which we had initiated negotiations regarding the mutual recognition of certificates, and we are grateful that we have succeeded in signing the MoU for the mutual recognition of seafarers’ certificates. Therefore, it is obvious that we recognise the Barbadian seafarers and they recognise ours,” Mr Mkeyenge underlined.
In line, TASAC boss mentioned other countries with which Tanzania has initiated communication and discussions as including Bahamas, Algeria, South Korea, China, Comoros, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Ghana, India, Iran, Kenya, Liberia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Oman, Palau, Panama, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Seychelles, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Vietnam and European Union countries.
