CHAPTER ONE

1.1Background of the study

Generally or in the world maritime industry is one of the largest on the planet, and ensuring operations at sea continue safely takes determined effort. The implementation of maritime security takes both knowledge and vigilance, and is essential to enhance security enforcement without slowing down the timely flow of international commerce.

Maritime security is a general term for the protection of vessels both internally and externally. The areas from which ships and maritime operations need protecting include terrorism, piracy, robbery, illegal trafficking of goods and people, illegal fishing and pollution.

Through supervision, inspection and proactive procedures, the marine industry does its best to minimize threats to maritime security, both malicious and accidental. And as the industry evolves and the marine sector grows, vigilance, enforcement and training will have to keep up with technology and increased opportunity for threats.

Since 9/11, there’s been an increased focus on protecting the marine sector from terrorism and other similar attacks, both in port and at sea. Several state and international organizations have formed to help set standards for bettering maritime security. Since the marine sector is so vast and the massive amount of goods entering the country is difficult to screen, every precaution possible to minimizing malicious exploitation is critical.

Security is not only the job of vessel safety officers, but the job of the crew as a whole, which is why it’s so crucial for companies to educate and train their employees so their vessels have a better chance of stopping security threats.

Continentally or in Africa , Africa relies greatly on ports and ships to service its intercontinental trade. Based on 2017 statistics, Africa contributes an average of 2.7% to global trade by value (5% of imports and 7% of exports). Although one-third of the continent is comprised of landlocked countries, maritime transport still remains the key gateway to the global African marketplace (UNTCAD 2018). Post-colonial Africa remained beyond maritime security issues for most of the second half of the 20th century, busy as it was with settling disputes and consolidating political borders in the hinterland, and deprived of the means to integrate the sea into its national economies. This trend was reinforced throughout the 1990s by structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) imposed to rescue African economies, which in the course of dealing with shrinking states and rendering economies accountable and competitive never paid significant attention to the maritime dimension. Moreover, the impact of the sea on other spheres of activity besides fisheries, commerce and transport was not seen then very clearly.

This sounds like a bad irony if we consider that African coastal political entities historically participated in world trade by operating an interface between the sea and the hinterland, feeding the former with goods to be exported, slaves in particular. It was unfortunate that Africa continued to look at the sea from a distance while a revolution was taking place in the 1980s with the containerisation of maritime cargoes, which revived the competitiveness and importance of sea transportation, particularly in view of the fact that the continent is surrounded by some of the main international maritime routes and that almost 90 per cent of its commerce is transported by sea. It was also unfortunate that this happened while foreign industrial fishing trawlers were exhausting the main source of protein of African populations. For too long, African countries disguised this nonexistent relationship by being present at the signing ceremonies of the main international conventions related with the sea. Until very recently, the sea has also been practically absent from African studies.

In the meantime, the sea was not seen as a place in need of security considerations, provided that good order prevailed. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), while paying attention to the safety of life at sea (the Safety of Life at Sea, or SOLAS, Convention was signed in 1974), barely mentioned security issues until 1988, when the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (the SUA Convention) came into force in response to the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achile Lauro (Rahman 2009: 40ff).

Following 9/11, the situation changed entirely as the sea became an insecure place and the bridge between safety and security at sea was established in several ways. Terrorist threats could assume any form and come from everywhere, including the sea. The attacks on the USS Cole and the French tanker Limburg in 2000 and 2002, respectively, and on oil platforms off the coast of Iraq in 2004 accentuated the new trend. Oil tankers and international cargo ships were now at risk, as were harbours. Suddenly the situation was reversed and coastal countries were forced to look at the sea, instead of the hinterland, as the direction from where threats could come. New measures were adopted, most notably the 2004 International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.

In the process, maritime security was no longer linked exclusively to geo-strategy and naval attacks, but began to follow the transformation of security in general, now covering diverse fields related to the functioning of societies, their economies and their relations with the sea, including fisheries, the environment and health, and aimed at safeguarding them against a wide range of threats and criminal activities such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), smuggling, human trafficking, trafficking in narcotics and weapons, terrorism, and of course piracy.

In Africa, after a slow climb up the security agenda, maritime security is becoming a central issue, particularly in the context of the 2050 Maritime Security Strategy. The reason or rather reasons are complex and intertwined, ranging from overfishing and other environmental threats on both the western and eastern coasts, through piracy, to deep coastal transformation in the wake of mining and energy resources exploration, amid growing evidence of a close relationship between inshore and offshore activities and control. In any case, there is now a growing awareness that neglecting the sea can lead to a loss of economic opportunities and even to serious economic threats.

The Brenthurst Foundation (2010: 10) defines maritime security from an African perspective as ‘anything that creates, sustains or improves the secure use of Africa’s waterways and the infrastructure that supports these waterways’. Whatever the particular issue at hand, most threats emerging from the sea – due to their magnitude, the fact that they are so closely intertwined, and the fact that they produce such a diversity of impacts – demand cooperatively framed responses. This applies to the global, continental, regional and even national levels, where issues of maritime security should no longer be left to the military, but dealt with by the full spectrum of social stakeholders.

Specifically or in Cameroon the Republic of Cameroon is a country in Central Africa bordered by Nigeria to the West, Chad to the Northeast, The Central African Republic to the East, Gabon and the Republic of Congo to the South. Cameroon’s coastline lies in the bight of bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.

With more than 400km long of coastline, Cameroon has five ports; 

• The Douala port located in the littoral region and handles about 95% of imports and exports for the country as well as some neighbouring landlocked countries like the Central African Republic, Chad and even the Northern Congo Brazzaville making it a gateway to these countries and a pole of reference at the heart of the Gulf of Guinea (Cameroon National Ports Authority, 2015)
• The Kribi seaport which is newly constructed and located in the South region of the country with a view to help decongest the Douala port and serves the needs of industrial companies involved in mining, transporting and receiving heavy types of equipment for mineral extraction and it is also essential for commerce (Port Authority of Kribi, 2018).
• The Limbe and Tiko seaports which are secondary ports and located in the South West region of the Country essentially destined for the handling of petroleum products for the refinery unit in Limbe and for the export of timber and serve as the liaison between Tiko in Cameroon and Calabar in Nigeria respectively (Cameroon National Ports Authority, 2010).
• The port of Garoua, located in the Northern part of the country is regarded as a seasonal port and serves the Northern region and neighbouring Nigeria (Cameroon National Ports Authority, 2010).

With an average of over 1400 foreign vessels calling the ports of Cameroon annually, and given its advantageous geographical location, its objectives over the years have been to make the Nation a hub in maritime transport, positioning Cameroon as a logistic platform for the Gulf of Guinea (Port Authority of Douala, 2017).

Maritime transport accounting for about 12 billion tons of cargo transported by over 50000 ships sailing through the oceans remains an indispensable means of transportation of goods and contributes substantially to the vitality of international trade and economic growth across the globe (UNCTAD, 2018).

To this effect, the shipping industry of course without a doubt is very globalized with its uniqueness given that, commercial ships sail from one jurisdictional water to another. There is, therefore, a strong need for international cooperation to accomplish challenging objectives, such as clean oceans, safe ships as well as competent crew.

The maritime industry is not proactive, however, its trend of evolution has always been triggered by major maritime disasters (incidents and casualties) such as The Titanic, Amoco Cadiz, the Prestige, the Torrey Canyon, and the Erica which led to significant marine pollution and many loss of lives. These marine disasters have been the key drivers for the emergence and development of International Maritime Regulatory Conventions.

The inspection regime was implanted into these maritime international regulatory conventions and subsequently regional cooperation on port state control (PSC) was developed (Bang & Jang, 2012). It is necessary to highlight that these PSC regimes exist because some ship owners and flag states use loopholes created by the international nature of the industry to save cost by operating below the minimum safety standards (Ozcayir, 2018).

The operation of these substandard ships has been the leading cause of accidents resulting in damage to the marine environment, cargo and human lives. In order to limit the prevalence of these substandard ships, the intervention of port states has been the last resource to limit dumping at sea given that according to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, maritime transport and dumping at sea contribute about 20% of marine pollution and approximately 600 thousand tons of oil enters the oceans as a result of normal shipping operations and illegal discharges annually (UNCED, 1992).

1.2 Problem of the Statement 

Given Cameroon’s growing interest in seaborne trade and port infrastructures, its geographical location makes it an ideal hub for regional seaborne trade. It should, therefore, consider taking all necessary measures to ensure maritime safety and marine environmental protection so as to assure the sustainability of the maritime domain and all other sectors that depend on it. 

Over the years, PSC inspections have played a major role in improving maritime safety. The estimated cost savings linked to incident management achieved through PSC ranges from about USD 74,000 to USD 193,000 per inspection from the year 2002 to 2007 as compared to the average cost per port state inspection which was evaluated at USD 1240 to USD 1540 in Australia and the United States where 3127 and 9909 inspections were carried out respectively in the same year (Knapp et al, 2011). 

In line with the above mentioned, there is an urgent need for efficient PSC in all Cameroonian ports bearing in mind that, the cost of maritime accidents does not only affect ship owners, Cameroonian waters and society but the region as a whole. Cameroon does not belong to the Abuja MoU on Port State Control, which is contrary to the recommendations and directives of the IMO, encouraging all member states to adhere to the MoU of their respective regions so as to collaborate in sharing data, harmonising PSC procedures within the region, eliminating substandard ships, as well as to minimise unnecessary delays of ships in ports.

Given that PSC is a safety net, vessels and the marine environment are at risk if not effectively carried out because, the prevalence of substandard ships causes accidents that damage human lives, goods as well as the marine environment.  

Even though these controls are not sufficient to correct or prevent all accidents, they have and continue to play a major role in the general reduction of the number of maritime accidents. The reason why there is an imperative need for states to invest in improving their PSC procedures.

1.3 Research Questions

1.3.1 General Research Question

• How does efficient PSC impact maritime safety and security in the Port of Douala

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

The specific research question of this work includes;

• How does port state control ensure maritime safety and security in the Port of Douala
• What are the effect of efficient PSC on maritime safety and marine security in the Port of Douala.
• What is the significant of a Port State Control Officers (PSCOs) incharge of safety and security at the port of Douala

1.4 Research Objectives

1.4.1 General Research Objectives

• Identify how efficient PSC impact maritime safety and security in the Port of Douala

1.4.2 Specific Research Objectives

• Identify how port state control ensure maritime safety and security in the Port of Douala
• Identify the effect of efficient PSC on maritime safety and marine security in the Port of Douala.
• Identify the significant of a PSCO incharge of safety and security at the port of Douala