Mogadishu (SD) – The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the UN Mission in Somalia, have handed over the Somali Maritime Transport Act, which the government requested in 2014 to amend the 1959 Law.

The new law will help the Government of Somalia maintain and control its seas and ports.

The IMO and the UN handed the amended Law to the Somali Ports and Maritime Ministry, which will then forward to Somali parliament.

This law will apply to all maritime border countries and vehicles using seawater, as all ships using the Somali seawater transit routes will have to comply with the new law.

Somalia has had a dispute with Kenya over the dispute, including the case at The Hague.

The Somali government has in recent times been trying to get back to controlling all land, sea and air borders, and last year the federal government announced that the UN had handed over control of the airspace.

The Minister of Ports and Maritimes Maryam Aweys Jama received a copy of the law in Somali language from the East and South Africa co-ordinator of the IMO. Dave Muli.

Mr. Muli thanked the DF for its commitment to safeguarding ships and Somali Seawaters and pledged that the IMO will continue to support future Somali coastal development.