BMA Bolsters Training for Maritime Investigators

The safety of seafarers and their vessels is always top of the agenda for The Bahamas Maritime Authority and, in many cases, safety innovations come as the result of the investigations that follow a marine casualty. As a leading Flag, The BMA’s investigations team conducts investigations involving Bahamas-flagged vessels or those which happen in Bahamian waters.  Led by Deputy Director Nick Dowden, the team plays a vital role both regionally and globally in investigating why a casualty happened to identify what the industry should learn and makes recommendations to improve outcomes in the future.

In September, Nick took an active role at the Marine Accident Investigators’ International Forum (MAIIF) in Beijing, leading a session on casualties involving expedition cruise vessels – a subdivision of the passenger vessel sector that has seen huge growth in recent years.

More recently, on behalf of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Nick was in Suriname delivering a regional workshop on casualty investigation, working alongside Marcel Ayeko, lead consultant, and Leedwine David Pichon, Implementation Support Officer at the IMO. The workshop, run under the IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme, was developed to strengthen casualty investigation capability in the Caribbean region and facilitate greater cooperation between neighbouring states. Also attending the workshop as delegates were Nassau-based BMA Investigator Larez Pinder and Craig Curtis from the Bahamas Port Department.