BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Turkmenistan and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are actively strengthening cooperation in the field of preventing marine pollution by ships, a source in the IMO told Trend.
"IMO is committed to supporting Member States who need assistance through our Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP). We focus on developing the skills and capacity of people working in the sector, in addition to strengthening institutions so that countries are able to operate within an international framework that contributes to safe, secure and more sustainable shipping," the source said.
The representative of the organization noted that that Turkmenistan's top objective for receiving technical help has always been to prevent pollution from merchant ships entering the Caspian Sea and/or lessen the impact of marine mishaps and accidents.
"This is because Turkmenistan has a coastline alongside the Caspian Sea, the world's largest enclosed body of water and recognized as an inland sea. It is an endorheic lake with little or no water outflow. Endorheic lakes are usually very saline and sensitive to marine pollutant inputs. For transport purposes, the Caspian Sea is connected to the Russian inland waterways network, thus giving ships access to the Black Sea. The Black Sea has access to the Mediterranean via the Straits and then to the open sea," the representative added.
Meanwhile, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a specialized UN agency dealing with the regulation of international shipping, with the main task of developing and approving international standards and regulations in the fields of maritime safety, protection of the marine environment, and prevention of marine pollution, as well as regulating issues related to the efficiency of transportation and the rights of seafarers.
IMO also coordinates and supports cooperation between member states in these areas and conducts research and training aimed at improving the safety and environmental sustainability of maritime transport.
Moreover, the IMO approved Turkmenistan's accession to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (BUNKER-2001) in early February. This convention entered into force for Turkmenistan on April 23 of this year.