IMO STATUS

In the span of the years elapsed, Guinea-Bissau has acceded to a number of important IMO treaties, including the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS), the key IMO treaty governing the safety of shipping. Other instruments include the STCW Convention, which establishes international standards for training, certification and watch-keeping for seafarers, the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) and the MARPOL Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships.

Currently and since the enactment of the International Ship Registry of Guinea-Bissau, supplemental instruments of accession related to IMO Conventions and Protocols have been submitted to ensure that the Registry’s regulatory context is up-to-date and consistently applied in accordance with the most recent international requirements on maritime safety, security and environmental protection as well as for the welfare of seafarers. In June 2022 IMO has issued fourteen (14) Circular Letters whereas the IMO Secretary-General refers to various International Conventions of the IMO to which the Republic of Guinea-Bissau has acceded, and was affected by the deposit of the respective instruments of accession, including among others the Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, the International Convention on Load Lines,1966, the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969, the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic,1965, as amended, the Protocol of 1997 to amend the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, and the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001.