The Singapore government sent a high-level delegation to Panama and during the visit, Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of MPA, signed a MoU with Noriel Araúz, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) to strengthen maritime relations between both countries.
Under this MoU, the maritime authorities of Panama and Singapore will cooperate on maritime matters including

• the promotion of the use and acceptance of ship’s electronic certificates to facilitate port state inspections
• the exercise of port state control (PSC) inspections by both countries (an inspection function on visiting foreign ships to verify their compliance with international rules on safety, pollution prevention and seafarers’ living and working conditions)
• personnel exchange

Singapore and Panama are the top five ship registries in the world.
Vessels registered with either Panama or Singapore calling at each other’s ports will benefit from faster checks and clearances.
The use of electronic certificates and cooperation on PSC reduces administrative burden of issuing, sending and keeping hard-copy certificates on board, facilitates regulatory oversight and enforcement action by the authorities and expedites port clearances.
Noriel Araúz said: “Panama’s and Singapore’s maritime sectors have always had excellent relations but this MoU between our countries will address important technical issues for both Ship Registries.
“We are pleased to cooperate and bring to our customers and ship owners the most advanced technologies to alleviate the administrative burden and facilitate access to port state inspections, port state control inspections, and port clearances.
“It will be of great benefit for Singapore and Panama Ship Registries.”