Maritime & Port Services Get Double Boost

28 June 2023

Government, Press Release, Travel and Shipping

AIG expects to see improvements to its Port and Maritime services thanks to two recent boosts.

Firstly, a Department of Transport inspection of Port services found the level of service and security to be appropriate for the island’s location and nature. Part of the report mapped out ways in which services could be improved still further and the use of this ‘road map’ started in May with a meeting between representatives of AIG, the Police Service, Wolf Creek and Mitie. The meeting was the start of a liaison and training programme aimed to standardise Port security and management during ship work.

The second boost came when Ascension Island was recently invited to attend the Red Ensign Group Conference along with most of the other British Overseas Territories, including St Helena and Tristan Da Cunha.

Director of Facilities & Operations (David Mills) and Shipping & Operations Officer (Kitty George) represented AIG at the Conference which was held at George Town Grand Cayman. There was no cost to AIG for their representatives attending this event and the arrangements were made possible through the Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s CSSF Programme, funded by the FCDO.

The AIG representatives travelled with the Official flag of Ascension Island which was prominent at the Conference’s opening Ceremony. Both David Mills and Kitty George were active participants at the Conference, including David making a presentation to the delegates about Ascension and its Maritime infrastructure.

The Conference exceeded expectations in terms of relevance, learning points and networking and should enable improvements to our maritime services, including in terms of AIG vessel inspection, AIG coxswain training and general operations. The representatives from Ascension, St Helena and Tristan Da Cunha were also given a tour of the Cayman Island Coastguard command.

The Red Ensign Group (REG) is the collective group of British Shipping Registers and they established an annual conference many years ago to discuss common flag State issues and develop unified policies for ships registered on their respective flags.  With CSSF funding, REG were able to expand the membership of the Conference to include stakeholders from other British Overseas Territory Government departments who play key roles in managing activities in territorial waters.

AIG would like to thank the Maritime & Coastguard Agency for making attendance at the conference possible and also to the Cayman Islands for their warm welcome at what was a very productive event.