According to an announcement by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
(MPA), Singapore has been elected for the first time to the Council of the
International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse
Authorities (IALA). The election took place at the 13th Session of the IALA
General Assembly on 29 May 2018, in Incheon, the Republic of Korea.

Established in 1957, IALA is a non-profit, international technical
association that seek to harmonise aids to navigation worldwide and ensure that
the movements of vessels are safe, expeditious and cost effective while
protecting the environment. The association comprises marine aids to navigation
authorities, manufacturers, consultants, and scientific and training institutes
around the world.

Through its mission, IALA fosters safe,
economic, and efficient movement of vessels for the benefit of the
international maritime community. The principal organs of the IALA are the
Assembly, the Council and five Committees. The IALA General Assembly is held
every four years. In between the Assembly sessions, the activities of the IALA
are governed by the IALA Council. The IALA Council comprises 21 Councillors
elected by the IALA General Assembly and 3 further non-elected Councillors.
Council membership is for four years and members are eligible for
re-election.

Following its successful election, Singapore
will serve a four-year term from 2018 to 2022. Membership of the Council will
enable Singapore to contribute further to IALA’s mission of ensuring that
seafarers are provided with effective and harmonised marine aids to navigation
worldwide for safe navigation and protection of the environment.

“Singapore is honoured to be elected to the
IALA Council and is grateful for the support of our fellow IALA National
Members. We are heartened that our contributions are valued and recognised by
IALA National Members, and look forward to close collaboration to further the
IALA’s vision of achieving the safe and efficient movement of vessels through
the improvement and harmonisation of marine aids to navigation worldwide,” said
Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of the MPA.

This is the first time Singapore ran for a
seat on the IALA Council, although Singapore has been an IALA National Member
since 1973.

As one of the world’s busiest ports situated
along a key maritime trade route, ensuring safe, open, efficient, and
sustainable shipping has always been important to Singapore. One of Singapore’s
initiatives toward this goal is the development of standardised automatic
reporting and improvement of communication of vessel traffic services, which is
in line with IALA’s efforts in e-navigation.

Since 1973, as an IALA National Member,
Singapore has played an active role at the various IALA Committees such as the
E-Navigation Committee (ENAV) and the Vessel Traffic Services Committee (VTSC),
and their respective working groups.

Singapore was the first Asian country to host
the Vessel Traffic Services Symposium in partnership with IALA in 2000. MPA has
also co-organised and hosted various IALA workshops and courses such as the
E-NAV workshop in 2012, the Regional Forum on Vessel Traffic Services in 2013,
the IALA’s Risk Management Course in 2015 and the e-Navigation forum in 2017.

To mark the 45th year of
Singapore’s membership of IALA, Singapore has launched a 5-year technical co-operation and capacity building package for IALA
and its National Members from 2019-2023.

Valued at S$1 million, the package comprises
fellowships, scholarships, workshops, networking events, and courses to enhance
IALA National Members’ capacity-building and human resource development.

Mr Francis Zachariae, Secretary-General of
IALA, welcomed Singapore’s commitment for a technical co-operation and capacity
building package to IALA.

“I would like to express my sincere
appreciation to the Government of Singapore for its continued support to IALA
and encourage other IALA National Members to follow this good example,” said Mr
Zachariae.

The package will be implemented through the
MPA Academy, MPA’s training arm, in collaboration with the IALA Worldwide
Academy, IALA’s arm for technical assistance and capacity building.

Source: opengovasia