A joint meeting was held this morning at the Aden Governorate Office, headed by the Deputy Governor and Secretary-General of the Local Council, Badr Maoun Saeed, and in the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation, the General Authority for Maritime Affairs, and the General Authority for Environmental Protection.

The meeting was devoted to discussing the problems resulting from the survival of dilapidated ships located in the sanctuary and hook-throwing area in the international port of Aden, and their impact on the marine environment, biodiversity, and navigational traffic.

After extensive discussion by specialists in the relevant competent authorities.

The meeting approved a number of measures aimed at quickly addressing the problem of these dilapidated ships, which have been idle for up to 10 to 15 years. These include:

Issuing a decision obliging the ship owner to remove the ships and tow them to the “scrapping” ports after ensuring their competence to do so.

- Obligating the owner of ships that are unfit for “towing” to evacuate them of pollutants, take procedures to write them off with the “flag state” and declare them as “scrap” for disposal.

- It was agreed to submit a memorandum to His Excellency the President and members of the Presidential Command Council that includes obligating shipowners to (the above-mentioned exits) and urging the Supreme Judicial Council to quickly decide on this issue in view of what is required by the public interest of the country, and obligating shipowners to pay compensation and financial costs to the competent and relevant authorities. The relationship (Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation, the General Authority for Maritime Affairs and the Environmental Protection Authority).

The Deputy Governor of Aden, Secretary-General of the Local Council, Badr Maoun Saeed, began the meeting with a welcoming speech in which he praised the directives of His Excellency the Minister of State and Governor of Aden Governorate, Mr. Ahmed Hamid Lamlas, to preserve the safety of the marine environment and the navigation movement in the port of Aden.

He also appreciated the interaction of His Excellency the Minister of Transport, Dr. Abdul Salam Hamid, to address the problem of dilapidated ships, as well as the response of both the Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation and the General Authority for Maritime Affairs to the call of the local authority and the Public Authority for Environmental Protection, regarding the necessity of finding a rapid solution to avoid a disaster that threatens the environment and maritime traffic.

Stressing that the leadership of the local authority is keen to protect the beaches of Aden from any pollution and to remove and remove risks that threaten the marine environment. In particular, there is a project to establish four seawater desalination plants and to supply the city of Aden with drinking water in a way that meets the urban expansion of the city and the increase in population, which currently exceeds three million people.

*The Advisor to the Minister of Transport for Ports and Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Abdullah Mubarak bin Aifan, and Engineer Abdul Rab Jaber Al-Khalaqi, Executive Vice President of the Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation, touched on the efforts of the competent authorities represented by the Ministry of Transport, the Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation, and the General Authority for Maritime Affairs throughout The previous period, but to no avail, which forced the competent authorities to file a case with the court against the shipowner, awaiting a decision on the case.

The participants also praised the efforts of the leadership of the local authority in Aden, represented by Governor Lamlas and his deputy, Secretary General of the Local Council, Badr, an assistant, in working to move the issue forward and find a quick solution to it, especially since the problem is increasing from bad to worse as the days pass.

 The meeting was attended by Eng. Faisal Al-Thalabi, Acting Chairman of the Public Authority for Environmental Protection, Captain Shakib Ahmed Abdel Wahed, Director General of Land Operations (Port Officer), Engineer / Abdul Salam Arif, Director General of Marine Environment Protection in the General Authority for Maritime Affairs, and Walid Qasim Al Shuaibi, Director General of Public Administration. For environmental monitoring and registration. Warid Mustafa, Director of Legal Affairs at the Governorate General Office, and Niazi Mustafa, Acting Director General of the General Authority for Environmental Protection, Aden Branch. And others.