Maritime stakeholders hold national workshop on IMO Liability and Compensation Regime in Yaounde 

Situating the pertinence of the workshop, Minister Jean Ernest Massena NGALLE BIBEHE and the General Manager of CNSC, Auguste Mbappe Penda, were unanimous in their speeches that this workshop is coming up as a result of a revelation made during the international conference on “the challenges of maritime insurance in African countries”, held in Kribi in 2023. It was laid bare of an insufficiency of the legal and regulatory system in force in Cameroon to deal with large scale damages and disasters likely to affect shippers in their foreign trade operations; thus, a problematic the workshop seeks to address.

Therefore, the 5-days confab to run from October 21 to 25, 2024, at the Star Land Hotel in Yaounde, organised by CNSC and placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport, with technical assistance from IMO, will cover the CLC/Fund regime, the 1996/2010 HNS Convention, the 2001 Bunkers Convention, the 1976/1996 LLMC, the 2007 Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention and the 1974/2002 Athens Convention. The emphasis is put on the implementation and enforcement of the full liability regime. 

It is expected that this workshop will have a significant impact on the ratification and full implementation of IMO liability instruments. In this regard, the workshop is targeting primarily lawyers from the maritime administration, policy makers and legislative drafters. In addition, the workshop would offer an excellent opportunity for stakeholders comprising of government agencies, ship owners, operators, ports and shipping consignees to discuss the application of the conventions.

Minister Jean Ernest Massena NGALLE BIBEHE expressed great confidence in the caliber of participants and experts taking part in the workshop and guaranteed that the workshop objective will be met.