President of the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO), Mr. Robert Ward, paid a visit on Wednesday, July 13, 2016 to the offices of the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding (CMOU), on port State control located at the Maritime Authority of Jamaica. Mr. Ward was in Jamaica attending the meeting of the International Seabed Authority.

In attendance at this meeting was Mrs. Jodi Barrow, Secretary General of the CMOU, Rear Admiral Peter Brady, Director General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, Lt. Cdr. Leighton Miller, Chairman of the Technical Standing Work Group of the CMOU and Ms. Dionne Thaxter, Administrator of the CMOU.

Mr. Ward took the opportunity to highlight the synergies between both organisations and the need to work closer in the future. It was recommended that Mr. Ward attend the Meeting of the Senior Maritime Administrators of the Caribbean which is held bi-annually. The next scheduled meeting is to be held in Barbados in February of 2017. Mr. Ward advised that he would use this opportunity to provide a report to the Members of the hydrographic issues affecting the Caribbean Region in a similar manner to his presentation at the meeting of the South West Pacific Hydrographic Commission in an effort to further develop the hydrographic services within the Caribbean region. It was noted that this meeting of the SWPHC was attended by representatives of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and the IHO.

The meeting also discussed the importance of hydrographic services for the Caribbean due to the large transit of vessels within and through the region, primarily Passenger Vessel and Container Vessels, in addition to the need for hydrographic services for the planning of Blue Environment development projects, such as off-shore mining, marine wind farms etc.