MarAd outlines results from bilateral maritime meetings with Vietnam

The U.S. Maritime Administration said bilateral maritime meetings conducted between Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton and his counterparts in Vietnam on July 28-29 allowed the two delegations to jointly identify matters for further future cooperation between their two nations. In addition to identifying challenges both maritime nations face in financing port and maritime infrastructure development between public agencies and the private sector, the delegations focused on the shortage of qualified mariners and discussed educational and recruitment systems for seagoing personnel.

Significant progress was made in keeping some qualified mariners at their duty stations, as the delegations agreed to recommend extending the validity of United States and Vietnamese work visas for crewmembers on a reciprocal basis ?thus allowing longer uninterrupted sea duty, MarAd said in an Aug. 7 statement.

The delegations also considered future cooperation on vessel tracking through on-board identification systems, assistance on multimodal and logistics planning, sharing maritime educational experience and training materials for port and vessel security personnel, and the exchange of cadets and teaching staff at maritime training schools, MarAd said. 

Source: American Shipper