Flow in trade
No disruption, thanks to the maritime sector
TRADE has been kept flowing thanks to the maritime sector and during the pandemic, seaports have remained open, ensuring medicine, food, and necessary supplies such as vaccines were transported and made available to the most vulnerable around the world.
Minister for Transport, Faiyaz Koya during the 4th Ministerial Conference on Transport this month said the impacts on international shipping have a trickling effect on domestic inter-island shipping in several SIDS.
“Delays in ship arrivals, port closures, lock-downs in specific areas, and varying quarantine periods, for example, can have a negative influence on domestic inter-island shipping during a pandemic,” he said.
The theme of the conference was Maritime
Connectivity: A Perspective from Small Island Developing States(SIDS)”
“Many SIDS rely heavily on imports, the most of which are transported by ship.
“When international shipping lines are disrupted or influenced by blank sailing or temporary bans in sailing, along with limited connection, it raises concerns and has a significant impact on the provision of food, pharmaceuticals, and much-needed medical equipment to most SIDS.
“Small Island Developing States are intrinsically sensitive to several shocks that can occur simultaneously due to our geographical, topographical, and climaterelated characteristics.
“The pandemic has caused a new setback for SIDS in the Pacific, which were already dealing with climate change-related and extreme weather events like severe tropical Cyclone Harold in April 2020, which devastated Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu, causing widespread destruction and loss of life.”
Mr Koya said the Regional Action Programme 2022-2026 in an instance would be an important living document for the SIDS that would aim to guide and illustrate that transportation is not just an enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but also a pre-requisite for success.
“A key priority in many SIDS is to promote sustainable shipping as a means of providing access to reliable and cost-effective maritime transport,” he said.
“It is the development of sustainable maritime transport networks that serve these states to address many of the challenges that their economies face, including a significant dependency on fossil fuel imports, coupled with limited national budgets, resulting in heightened environmental and climate change-related vulnerabilities.
“Several SIDS have embarked on ambitious national and regional sustainability initiatives to create low-carbon coastal maritime transportation systems because, for the most part, our basic survival is dependent on it.
“In this sense, the Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership, for example, is a country-led project to catalyse a multi-country transition to sustainable, resilient, and low-carbon shipping through large-scale blended financing investments.”
The majority of SIDS from the Pacific, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world actively participate in the International Maritime Organisation’s negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions reductions and the implementation of maritime environmental protection measures.
“SIDS, on the other hand, will require help to build much-needed sustainable and resilient infrastructure and shipping services,” he said.
“Impacts of COVID-19 and increasing environmental concerns such as frequent Tropical Cyclone of very high categories and sea-level rise cause severe impacts and undermine SIDS financial and economical capabilities, therefore coordinated policy action at the global level to support SIDS will be most welcomed.”
He said enhancing preparedness and risk assessment, mitigation and adaptation capabilities concerning pandemics and climate change-related impacts and other shocks are keys for resilience and recovery.
He added SIDS such as Fiji require significant investment to transition to resilient and sustainable maritime transport and connectivity and that access to finance and opportunities for investment is critical for economic growth, resilience and recovery.