Memorandum in the West and Central Africa Region (Abuja MoU)

On October 22, 1999, 16 states belonging to the Atlantic coast of West Africa concluded a memorandum of understanding. This agreement is related to the implementation of the requirements of the UN convention in terms of international shipping. The Abuja Memorandum or Abuja MoU has become one of the largest documents adopted in this area of ​ ​ maritime legislation.

What is a memorandum of understanding

The term "memorandum of understanding" refers to an agreement between two or more parties that has no legal force, but serves to fulfill obligations beneficial to all parties. In this case, this memorandum states the obligation of the countries that have accepted it to monitor the condition of ships sailing under other flanks for compliance with international safety requirements.

In the norms of international maritime law, this duty is assigned to the State under whose flag the ship is sailing. But many ships never visit the ports of these countries. Therefore, the countries participating in this agreement volunteered to ensure the safety of cargo and passenger transportation of foreign ships.

Need for MOUs

Most countries in the world that have shipping ports have joined conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aimed at reducing the number of marine accidents and protecting the environment. But the fulfillment of the requirements for maintaining the technical serviceability of all ships that sail under the flag of a certain state turned out to be impossible. Moreover, in the event of any emergency in the territorial waters of another country, the damage is caused to her.

Therefore, control over the condition of foreign ships was entrusted to those states in whose ports they call. This measure was caused by the following reasons:

Frequent cases of major accidents in coastal waters;

The general aging of ships of the entire world fleet;

Reduction of crew numbers and their multinational composition;

Complication of technical and navigation means;

Rare ship visits to home ports.

Also, the probability of an emergency is influenced by the state of the hull of the vessel, machine and other mechanisms, improper storage and use of fire fighting equipment, rescue equipment, radio equipment and other ship equipment.

History of International Memoranda

IMO activities within the framework of international maritime law were aimed at identifying vessels that do not comply with current technical standards. To do this, the organization tried to attract as many states as possible to this activity. Over the past 40 years, several agreements have been adopted that operate in different parts of the world. One of them was the Memorandum of Understanding of West and Central Africa.

The first document in this series was the Paris Memorandum, adopted in 1982. He regulated the activities of state port inspections of the countries of the European basin. In 1987, the Coast Guard of Canada and the United States joined the memorandum, in 1992 Japan and Croatia joined the organization. Canada became a full participant only in 1994 together with Poland. The Russian Federation joined the memorandum in 1996.

In the future, 8 more similar international agreements were adopted:

1992 - in Latin America;

1993 - Pacific states adopted the Tokyo Memorandum;

1995 - Caribbian MoU adopted by Caribbean countries, as well as the Mediterranean and Indian memoranda;

1998 - Abuja MoU;

2000 - Black Sea MOU.

The fundamental documents of all the memoranda adopted during this time do not contradict the decisions of Paris.

Now the activities of all these international organizations are taking place together. Data on inspections of cargo and passenger ships are collected into a single database, which representatives of all participating countries have access to.

This database also contains information about ships that were detained due to non-compliance with international environmental safety requirements and technical deviations. The list of vessels that have received comments is updated monthly. This list shows the country of the flag, the name of the owner company, and other information.

Activities of states participating in Abuja MoU

16 states located on the Atlantic coast became parties to the Memorandum of Understanding of West and Central Africa. Among them are the South African Republic, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Angola. These states exercise State Port Control (PSC) for Abuja MoU as part of the evolving global international ship port control system.

On the Abuja MoU website, you can find a complete list of participants in the memorandum, as well as observer states, and find out the latest news about their activities, meetings and seminars, as well as decisions made at them. In various sections of the site, you can find information about the rules for conducting port inspections, the composition of the organization's management, and various documents related to its work.

Abuja MoU Secretariat

Federal Ministry of Transport Building

1, Joseph Street, P.O. Box 4574, Off Marina, Lagos, Nigeria

Tel: +2348129279829

Email: secretariat@abujamou.org, sunday.umoren@abujamou.org