To strengthen the mechanisms that facilitate the promotion of employment opportunities for Panamanian officers, seafarers and cadets as well as the establishment of specialized training programs for Panamanian seafarers seeking employment on board a variety of vessels, the Panama Maritime Authority  signed a Memorandum of Understanding  with Ramsey Greig & Co a maritime agency that is part of the LOGISTEC GROUP, an operator of specialized services for the maritime community and industrial companies in the areas of break-bulk cargo handling and in containers in 60 ports and 90 terminals located in North America.

Ramsey Greig & Co. Ltd. has been a pioneering port agency since 1934, developing expertise in handling passenger ships as well as cargo and tankers. It provides a wide range of maritime services to cruise ships and mega-yachts in ports along the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, Thunder Bay, Churchill, the Northwest Passage, the Arctic, and also in St. Pierre and Miquelon (France).

It is important to indicate that during this work visit, carried out in Canada, direct meetings were held with important shipping companies to promote job opportunities for Panamanian officers, cadets and junior personnel, among which the following stand out:

• Work meeting at the General Consulate of Panama in Montreal.
• Meeting with executives from the Quebec Ministry of Transport and Mobility (MTMD), in conjunction with the Société de développement économique du Saint-Laurent (SODES) and the Ministry of International Relations and La Francophonie (MRIF).

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• Meeting with Canada Steamship Lines / CSL Group, leading provider of maritime services for bulk dry cargo handling and delivery, as well as the world’s largest owner and operator of self-unloading vessels in Canada.
• Meeting with FEDNAV, the largest Canadian bulk cargo shipping company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Important points were touched on the Canadian market, the future cooperation agreement between the maritime authorities of Panama and Canada on issues of Panamanian seafarers and on the registration of ships, they were interested in the benefits for newly built ships.

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• Meeting with CANFORNAV, the company’s line of business includes the operation of vessels for the transport of cargo on the high seas between the United States and foreign ports.
• Meeting with the Saint Laurent Shipowners Association, where they discussed the importance of hiring Panamanian seafarers to sustain the supply chain and the opportunities that exist within the Quebec maritime industry.

  

• Meeting with Groupe Desgagnés, one of the most influential shipping groups in the Quebec maritime sector, where the different possibilities available to the registry regarding flag issues, merchant marine certificates, as well as the possibility of hiring Panamanian seafarers in their ships specially designed to navigate in temperate areas, were discussed.

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• We participated in the Informal Tanker Operators Safety Forum (ITOSF) 2023, whose the slogan was focused on “Safety and Security towards a green future”, where important issues were addressed such as: benefits of the Panama Ship Registry, digitization in the AMP, eco-sustainable systems and progress towards a Blue Maritime Industry.

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