The management of the Sierra Leone Ports and Harbours Authority (SLPHA) has facilitated a specialized simulation exercise in which trainees of the Abuja MoU Port State Control cohorts inspected tankers and bulk carriers at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay on Thursday 22nd October, 2026. To facilitate the practical training session, the Authority made available the environment and two ships.
The Deputy Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA), Ing. Emmanuel B.A Lansana expressed profound thanks and appreciation to the SLPHA Management for the support notwithstanding that the request to visit came at a short notice. Ing. Lansana noted that without a practical session for the trainees, their training Over the past days would not be fruitful. “Because of the good existing relationship we have with the SLPHA, we have been warmly welcomed here for our practical sessions and we are grateful,” he stated.
In his statement, the Secretary General of the Abuja MoU Port State Control, Captain Sunday Umoren also thanked the SLPHA Management for receiving their delegation of forty people at a very short notice.
Captain Umoren maintained that the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control for the West and Central African Region (Abuja MoU) training forms part of the Abuja MoU’s broader capacity building initiative to strengthen maritime safety and inspection standards across member states.
He disclosed that their central mandate is to ensure that no substandard ship, in line with the IMO requirement, navigates the seas, leading to loss of lives, pollution of the environment; noting that they seek to ensure that everything is done the right way. He added that they also ensure that port facilities are protected from faulty tanker terminal that could lead to possible explosion which could level a whole facility.
