BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.3
Trend:
Kazakhstan Parliament’s deputies approved the bill ‘On ratification of the 2007 Nairobi convention for removal of sunken ships’, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media.
"The convention was adopted under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization. As of today, 53 states have acceded to the convention. The main purpose of the convention is to introduce uniform rules and procedures for the quick and effective removal of sunken ships and liquidation of the consequences of a marine accident,” Beibut Atamkulov, Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development, said at the parliament’s plenary meeting.
Atamkulov noted that the convention enshrines the obligations of a shipowner and the flag state to guarantee financial compensation for damage caused in the event of a marine accident.
According to him, the need to ratify the convention is due to the increased intensity of shipping in the Caspian Sea.
"In particular, Kazakhstan is the main cargo-generating state. About 31 percent of the total cargo turnover in the Caspian Sea is shipped through the ports of Aktau and Kuryk. Today we are actively developing the Trans-Caspian international transport route,” further said the minister.
“A new car ferry service was opened with the Caspian ports of Iran, and this year it’s planned to open a rail-ferry service with the Russian port of Makhachkala. Regular container lines have been launched between the ports of Aktau and Turkmenbashi and the Iranian port of Amirabad,” he added. Besides, Atamkulov said that by 2025, a twofold growth in the frequency of ship entrances to the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea (in 2020 – 1,283 ship entrances) is expected, which will accordingly increase the risk of marine accidents.
"Ratification of the convention will create the necessary conditions for the protection of the interests of Kazakhstan in the event of maritime accidents and will allow establishing the obligation of owners of the ships entering the Kazakh sector, insure their liability or have other financial security for the removal of the sunken ship,” he emphasized. “This will also give Kazakhstan an opportunity to present a claim on compensation for the costs of raising the vessel directly to the insurance company without the participation of the shipowner.”
“At the same time, the ratification will help to obtain guarantees from a maritime administration of the flag state in the form of an insurance certificate issued by it when fulfilling the ship owner’s obligations to raise the sunken vessel and eliminate the aftermaths of the accident, as well define consequence of acts of the Maritime Administration of Kazakhstan, shipowner and maritime authorities of a foreign vessel in case of an accident in the sea," concluded the minister.