The shipping administration of Sri Lanka, Merchant Shipping Secretariat was awarded the ISO 9001:2008 standard certification by Sri Lanka Standard Institution Director System Certification T.G.G Dharmawardena at Merchant Shipping Secretariat office, Colombo 01.
The institution was remarked as the first company in South Asia which obtained Standard Certification by following rules introduced by International Maritime Organization (IMO) to get in to high stand of level in maritime industry operations.
The Chief Guest of the event Minister of Ports and Shipping Arjuna Ranatunga extending his warm wishes to the team of Merchant Shipping Secretariat said the next effort is to let everything in the industry to be transparent to the entire world.
“The Secretary General has being very keen on achieving this and we have been discussing this matter of several times may be months. I would like to congratulate entire secretariat who worked really hard to get in to this level. Not only that and even the secretariat will have especially with the new web sites coming out and it will be very transparent to the entire world. This was something lacking in the past. When I took over the ministry I always said whatever we do let it be transparent to the entire world not only to our country,” the Minster said.
The concluding ceremony of National Training Course on Marine and Incident Investigation was also held parallel to the event. Minster further extended his gratitude to the lectures who successfully conducted the training course.
“When we took over the ministry we always felt that we need to get guidance advice from the specialists on that industry. This is what has been lacking in the last so many years. Once again I would like to thank three of you all who have come all the way to spent time with us and educate our own industry to get into the next level,” the minister added.
The activities of the Merchant Shipping Secretariat are basically governed by the Merchant Shipping Act No.52 of 1971, Licensing of Shipping Agents act No. 10 of 1972 and also the relevant clauses of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act No. 40 of 1983 and subsequent regulations made thereafter. Merchant Shipping Secretariat deals with ensuring safety of life and property at sea, maritime education, training, examination and certification, registration of ships under Sri Lanka flag, Licensing of Shipping Agents, Container Depot Operators, Container Terminal Operators, Container Freight Stations, Freight Forwarders or a Non Vessel Operating Common carriers and implementing provisions of all applicable international Maritime conventions and national regulations. The Director General of Merchant Shipping Ajith Seneviratne said the certificate obtained would be an advantage to confidently face audit inspections by IMO in the future.
The official website of the Merchant Shipping Secretariat on www.dgshipping.gov.lk was launched parallel to the event.
The ceremony was participated by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Dammika Ranatunga, Secretary of the Ministry of Ports and Shipping L.P.Jayampathi and other distinguished guests.