The International Maritime Organization announced Feb. 24 that Argentina has acceded to the 2012 Cape Town Agreement meeting requirements for the accord to enter into force in February 2027 – a step toward “closing a longstanding gap in the global maritime safety framework.”
With 28 states as signatories, the Cape Town Agreement sets out mandatory safety standards for more than 45,000 fishing vessels of 24 meters (79 feet) in length and over, according to FAO data, “helping to prevent casualties, improve working conditions for fishers, enhance competitiveness and protect the marine environment,” according to the IMO.
Announcing the agreement’s new effective date, the IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said:
“Thousands of fishers lose their lives every year while working to supply the world's growing appetite for fish and fish products,” the IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez in announcing the agreement’s new effective date. “The 2012 Cape Town Agreement will help protect fishing crews, while safeguarding vessels.”
Argentina became the latest member nation, when Argentina’s ambassador to the United Kingdom Mariana Edith Plaza deposited the instrument of accession Feb. 24 at the IMO headquarters in London.
The Cape Town Agreement enters into force 12 months after at least 22 States, collectively representing 3,600 qualifying fishing vessels – typically ships operating on the high seas – consent to being bound by the treaty.
Once in force, signatory nations must incorporate the provisions of the 2012 Cape Town Agreement into national law and enforce it as they would any other legislation.
Under trhe agreement Flag States must ensure that vessels under their registries comply, while Port States have the right to inspect foreign vessels in their ports to verify compliance with the 2012 Cape Town Agreement requirements.
“These cover the design, construction, equipment and inspection of fishing vessels, as well as vessel stability and seaworthiness, machinery and electrical installations, life-saving appliances, fire protection and communications equipment,” according to the IMO. “Beyond safety, the Agreement is also expected to support the reduction of marine plastic pollution from abandoned or lost fishing gear.”
The 2012 Cape Town Agreement is the culmination of decades of work by IMO, building on earlier international instruments that did not enter into force, including the 1977 Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels and the 1993 Torremolinos Protocol. The treaty is now set to enter into force in 2027, nearly 15 years after it was adopted in 2012.
The Cape Town Agreement represents the fourth pillar in global fishing vessel safety, alongside the following key instruments, all of which are in force:
- IMO’s STCW-F Convention on training and certification of fishers.
- ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention, 2007, which sets minimum requirements for work on board, including hours of rest, food, minimum age and repatriation.
- FAO’s Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, 2009, which seeks to combat IUU fishing through effective port State measures.
With Argentina’s accession, the 28 contracting states to the Cape Town Agreement now include:
Argentina, Belgium, Belize, Congo, Cook Islands, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Iceland, Japan, Kenya, Namibia, Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sao Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain and Vanuatu.
The IMO maintains a detailed background history on how the Cape Town Agreement developed, available online here.
