He President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Poureceived his Greek counterpart, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerína Sakellaropoúlouwith the aim of deepening diplomatic relations and reaffirming bilateral agreements.
At this Monday’s meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MRREE), Omar Paganinisigned together Georgios Kotsiras, Deputy Foreign Minister of Greecea memorandum of understanding to strengthen bilateral cooperation in maritime affairs.
The agreement is based on the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which was approved on July 7, 1978 and came into force on April 28, 1984.
It includes rules to recognize training certificates in the respective naval schools, something that makes it possible to be used on flag merchant marine vessels of either country.
On behalf of the Uruguayan delegation, the Secretary of the Presidency, Rodrigo Ferres; the pro-secretary of the Presidency, Mariana Cabrera; and the general director of Political Affairs of the MRREE, Fernando Sandin.
Regarding the Hellenic delegation, there were the general secretary of the Presidency, Aliki Chatzi; the accredited ambassador to Uruguay, Nafsika Vraila; the director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Presidency, Maria Solomou; he director of the Americas and the Caribbean, Nicolas Sigalas; and the advisor Pavlos Kotsonis.
What is the IMO convention about?
The IMO International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers was the first to establish relative basic requirements at the international level.
Previously, each Government established its own rules applicable to officers and sailors, generally without referring to the practices of other countries. For this reason, the rules and procedures were very disparate, despite the fact that maritime transport is the most international of all economic sectors.
Source: Ambito
