Sharjah: The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) and Sharjah Police General Directorate held a meeting to explore the means of enhancing cooperation to counter marine pollution and handling abandoned ships.
Thani Ahmad Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and Major-General Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police, as well as other high level officials from both sides took part in the meeting, said a press release.
The ministry’s officials highlighted its efforts to maintain a clean marine environment.
The participants of the meeting also addressed response roles and responsibilities in case of the emergencies and the criteria to raise the emergency level from local to federal.
They discussed ways of handling abandoned ships and reviewed the relevant federal laws as well as regional and global agreements regulating maritime navigation and vessel traffic, including technical and legal frameworks, navigation rules, and regulations to preserve marine and coastal environments.
As part of its commitment to protecting the marine environment in the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, the UAE has ratified multiple agreements.
These include the Kuwait Regional Convention for Cooperation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution and its subsequent protocols, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, and the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter.
