Date: 23 – 24 March, 2015
Venue: Regional Maritime University – Tema (Ghana)
The Workshop on Harmonized Port Data Exchange Platform in WCA was organized with the valuable collaboration of the Regional Maritime University of Accra. Framed in the Capacity Building Programme of MARENDA, it took the assessment work one step further and invited responsible officers from port authorities of Tema, Douala, Lagos Port Complex, Abidjan and Dakar (IT and ship operation experts) to a common meeting in order to discuss how to exchange data in a harmonised way and also to present current international guidelines on port data exchange mechanism (IALA, ITU, IEC and IMO). Maritime and environmental regional organisations were also invited to contribute to this workshop; PMAWCA-AGPAOC, ABC Secretariat-UNEP, IMO (West & Central Africa) and Abuja MoU.
Key outcomes of the Workshop were a consensus document establishing a first approach to the information to be exchanged among WCA ports (Annex I) and a roadmap for the implementation of the regional maritime data exchange system. The involvement of PMAWCA was crucial for the success of the Workshop and will be crucial to have regional impact.