MSS Conference Speech by Ambassador Carson

MSS Conference Speech by Ambassador Carson













Amb. Carson began his remarks with the following excerpt from President Obama’s address to the United Nations (UN) last month: 

“We know this is no ordinary time for our people. Each of us comes here with our own problems and own priorities. But there are also challenges that we share in common as leaders and as nations."

This conference he noted, must address the shared global challenge of maritime safety and security.  He then stated that with 90% of the global trade transported on the sea lanes, maritime safety and security IS a cross-cutting issue that doesn’t fall outside of the purview (or capabilities) of any government (land-locked or not) or institution (maritime or not). 

            Finally he commented that there are six maritime functions essential for careful management, protection, and promotion of sound maritime economic and commercial security practices:

Governance- essential at the national, regional and subregional to support, regulate and protect maritime viability.

Civil and criminal authority- these institutions’ work often most closely resembles customs and border patrol and they must be able to cooperate effectively with other government structures.

Defense- whether navies or coast guiards, these organizations must be capable of effective detection, deterrence and interdiction of aggressive acts against a state.

Safety- one overarching authority must hold clear responsibility for ensuring it.

Response and recovery- encompasses capabilities to mitigate and investigate hazards and emergency incidents.

Economy- the ability to guarantee safe and secure maritime conditions is important to the health of its overall economy as well as that of the region (including the landlocked nations).

            He concluded his remarks by urging a collaborative effort to maximize Africa’s ability to benefit from the tremendous potential of their maritime resources. 

The collaboration needed that he emphasized is important because too often the maritime sector is ignored or written off as 'not affecting my area/land-locked country/far-away continent' etc.