The no- nonsense and hardworking reinstated maritime boss, Paul Sobba Massaquoi, has commenced work in earnest by attending the International Maritime Organizations (IMO) General Assembly held in London-United Kingdom.
In the Presence of the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization, the Maritime Boss Paul Sobba Massaquoi grabbed the opportunity to table the Sierra Leone STCW Statutory Instrument which was ratified and domesticated by parliament of Sierra Leone as one of his very first projects when he was appointed as the Executive Director for the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration in 2021.
A STCW whitelisted country according to the European Commission, means that for any third world country to ensure an adequate level of protection by reason of its domestic law or of the international commitments it has entered into. Fascinatingly, Sierra Leone becoming a white listed country means a lot in terms of increase in the country’s blue economy. The indelible mission and vision for Paul Sobba Massaquoi for the Maritime Administration is to see Sierra Leone being whitelisted under his auspices as the Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration. His visit has now brought back to the lime light at the IMO – International Maritime Organization and one that has prompted the IMO to visit Sierra Leone in April, in order to inspect the entire Maritime in terms of its readiness and capacity to be a white listed country. Some of the things the IMO will be looking at are the Maritime Light House, which is considered one of the IMO’s navigational tools, inspection of the country’s aids to navigation as well as some of the internal systems in place to monitor activities at sea. This was the more reason Paul Sobba Massaquoi will be engaging stakeholders, including the supervising ministry, the board, and parliament, in order to seek their unflinching support if Sierra Leone is to achieve its maritime white list status. This is indeed a dream that every serious-minded leader would like to achieve. The delegation from Sierra Leone to United Kingdom include the Executive Director of Sierra Leone Maritime Administration Paul Sobba Massaquoi, the newly appointed Permanent Representative to the IMO Ambassador Dr. Morie Manyeh UK, engineer Ibrahim Wurie, Director of Safety and Security, and Mr. Shiek Kabba Alternate Representative IMO