VIMSAS workshop held in Istanbul 28-30 June 2010

The SafeMed II Project, upon request of the Turkish Undersecretariat for Maritime Affairs, and with the close cooperation of the IMO, delivered a 3 days National Workshop on the Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme (VIMSAS) from 28 to 30 June 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey is the first among the SafeMed Project' s beneficiaries to have officially volunteered for VIMSAS.

The Workshop was opened by the Deputy Undersecretary for Maritime Affairs and attended by nearly 30 participants from the Maritime Administration but also from various other National Authorities such as the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Environment and Coast Guard, which will all be involved in the Audit Process in the implementation of the State's duties as Flag State, Coastal State and Port State.

Lecturers Capt. Cahit Yalcin, IMO Lead Auditor and  Capt. Dan Sarenius, from Sweden also an IMO Lead Auditor shared with the participants their respective experiences of the Audit Process and raised the awareness of the participants in preparation for the future audit. Mr Lawrence D. Barchue, Sr., Head, Member State Audit and Internal Oversight Office of the Secretary-General at the IMO  introduced the latest evolutions of the Audit Scheme, emphasized the importance of the strategy and conducted the participants through the exercises.

The Workshop was a very successful one, with a high degree of interactivity thanks to preliminary work undertaken by the participants. Albert Bergonzo, Safemed Project Officer, Maritime Administration, concluded the Workshop wishing the Turkish Authorities full success for the upcoming audit.