Mozambique’s national maritime system is currently undergoing an international audit led by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in an initiative aimed at assessing the country’s institutional, technical, and legal capacity to implement international conventions regulating navigation safety and marine environmental protection.
According to Lusa, the mission is part of the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS), a mandatory mechanism adopted in 2016 to verify whether countries have adequate structures to effectively enforce international maritime treaties.
Speaking in Maputo during the mission’s presentation, the Minister of Communications and Digital Transformation, Américo Muchanga, stated that the audit represents an important step in strengthening national maritime transport safety and deepening cooperation between Mozambique and the UN specialized agency.
“It is an extremely important audit for our country because it is a key step in improving maritime transport safety and also in strengthening our relationship with the International Maritime Organization,” declared the minister.
Muchanga recalled that maritime transport remains the main mode of global trade, responsible for over 80% of international merchandise exchanges. In Mozambique, this dependence is even more evident with the growth of natural gas projects in the north of the country, whose logistics rely heavily on maritime navigation. The minister also emphasized the strategic role of the maritime sector for the national economy, in a country with approximately 2,700 kilometers of coastline, where important logistic and port corridors operate, serving not only the domestic market but also several inland countries in Southern Africa.
Objectives of the Audit
The Chairman of the Board of the Maritime Transport Institute (Itransmar), Unaite Mustafa, explained that the audit’s main goal is to evaluate the level of implementation of international conventions related to navigation safety and ship operations.
“The primary objective is to see how Mozambique is implementing conventions on navigation safety and ship maritime safety, as well as to identify areas that need improvement,” he stated.
The international mission is expected to remain in Mozambique until next Monday, during which institutional systems, national legislation, and oversight mechanisms applied by maritime authorities will be analyzed.
Context and Safety Concerns
This audit takes place amid growing concerns over transport safety in the country. On Friday, President Daniel Chapo called for strengthened measures to prevent road and maritime accidents, emphasizing that many of these incidents remain avoidable.
The head of state was reacting to a road accident that occurred on Thursday in Tete province, which resulted in at least 15 fatalities.
“We do not want our roads to continue being places of bloodshed and loss of human lives. Nor do we want the sea, rivers, and lakes to continue being places where our population dies,” he said.
Source: Diário Económico
