The General Organisation of Sea Ports (GOP) of Bahrain has begun an International Maritime Organisation (IMO) training workshop for inspectors of small ships in the GCC countries.

The workshop aims to train inspectors on new safety regulations for non-SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) vessels and is taking place at the Movenpick Hotel until Thursday.

The workshop is being attended by the GOP and Bahrain Coast Guard inspectors as well as representatives from various GCC countries, and other related stakeholders in the kingdom.

The prime objectives of the workshop is to focus on training the inspectors of smaller vessels in the region on the importance of complying with the safety requirements that are considered adequate for inland waters and that are required to ensure the overall safety of ships and any personnel on board.

As the regulator of Bahrain's maritime industry, the GOP has taken steps to nationally regulate vessels of non-conventional size in order to improve maritime safety standards in the kingdom.

'The safety of non-convention sized ships in the kingdom and the region is a very serious issue,' said GOP director general Hassan Ali Al Majed.

'For that reason, we embarked - in co-operation with the IMO to bridge any existing gaps in our regulations and improve the overall safety standards on vessels, both in and around Bahrain.'

'The safety of both the vessel and the passengers of smaller vessels is just as important as for large vessels,' he said.

'This became especially clear to us after the tragic Al Dana dhow accident in 2006, and brought into sharp focus the steps that we needed to take in order to ensure that a similar tragedy never again occurs.'

'We are committed to working closely with the IMO, other regional organisations and the maritime industry at large through workshops such as this one, to design and implement stringent safety regulations in line with the latest international standards, taking into account elements relevant to smaller ships,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service