Monrovia — The Liberia Maritime Authority clarifies that a recent media report attributing the removal of Liberia from the U.S Government’s Advisory List of countries that do not maintain effective anti-terrorism measures to the Global Tracking and Maritime Solutions Holdings (GTMS Holdings) is false and misleading.
GTMS Holdings, a Cargo Tracking Note system, is not a consideration nor a factor for evaluation by the U.S. Coast Guard in assessing the effectiveness of a port’s security and anti-terrorism measures, LiMA’s Commissioner Eugene Nagbe has said. He described as unfortunate GMTS’ decision to claim credit for something it had nothing to do with.
The Commissioner explained that the U.S. Coast Guard has a checklist of activities and benchmarks that a port must continually meet to be delisted from the Coast Guard Advisory List or Black List. He frowns on what appears to be a media blitz by the CTN System in seeking to claim credit for something that is completely out of their scope, while warning that as a competent Authority, the LiMA will not hesitate to issue appropriate sanctions where necessary to curb such unacceptable behavior.
In the March 5, 2021 Edition of the FrontPage Africa newspaper, GTMS Holdings falsely claimed that the removal of Liberia from the US Coast Guard Advisory List was the direct result of its “judicious work” through its CTN System. The LiMA regards this as unacceptable behavior.
Commissioner Nagbe has however lauded the many support LiMA has gotten in ensuring the country remains compliant with national and international maritime instruments, including texhnical support by U.S. government to LiMA and the Liberian Coast Guard.