Guide-Lines for Maritime Development in Guatemala
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World Maritime University The Maritime Commons: Digital Repository of the World Maritime University World Maritime University Dissertations Dissertations 1986 Guide-lines for maritime development in Guatemala Maria Isabel Fernandez WMU Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.wmu.se/all_dissertations Recommended Citation Fernandez, Maria Isabel, "Guide-lines for maritime development in Guatemala" (1986). World Maritime University Dissertations. 776. https://commons.wmu.se/all_dissertations/776 This Dissertation is brought to you courtesy of Maritime Commons. Open Access items may be downloaded for non- commercial, fair use academic purposes. No items may be hosted on another server or web site without express written permission from the World Maritime University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GUIDELINES FOR MARITINE DEUELOPMENT IN GUATEHALA WORLD MARITIME UNIVERSITY MALMO - SWEDEN G U I O E — F^OFC I T I me; DEV'EI_0F=’ME:M'T I M GU^=»-rEMi=il_#=% By Maria Isabel Fernandez GUATEMALA A paper submitted to the Faculty o-f the University in partial sati s3-f act. i an o-f th ■for th e award o-f a MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE i n GENERAL MARITIME ADMINISTRATION The contents o-f this paper reflect my personal viev^gs and are not necessarily endorsed by the UNIVERSITY Supervised and aissessed bv's Professor Aage Os World Maritime Univer Co-assessed bys Dr, A,A. Monsef World Maritime"* U n iv e rs ity I ii i ( 4 f! c: INJ O Ul L_ E: D G E: M E hJ T S I wish to acknowledge and express my sincere thanks to all the persons who have aided rne in the preparation o-f this paper -friends, colleagues, lectures, professors and in particular my fricands who read m-/ scripts so patiently and corrected my English. I also wish to express my gratitude to the people who p r oVi ded va1uab1e training and k nowledge during var i ous field activities abroad. F inally, my deepest apprec i a^t i on goe?s to professor Aage Qs for his valuable guidaince and advice in the prepa^ration of this paper. His outstanding encouraigement and supervision made this paper successfully completed. 1 -r#=»OI_E: OF^ COMTEIMTS Acknowledgements. ............................. i Table o-f Contents.................. -......... ii CHAPTER I Introduction ..................... 1 CHAPTER II Background ............................. 4 2.1 General in-formation about the Republic D-f Guatemala ........................ 4 2.2 Historical background o-f the marine activities in Guatemala ................................................. 7 CHAPTER III Maritime Administration .......................... 10 3.1 Maritime Transport Administration ................................. 14 3.1.1 Foreign c a r r i e r s ............................................ 14 3.1.2 National carriers ........................................................... 16 3.2 Ports Administration ...................................... 20 3.3 Fisheries Administration ....................................................... 25 3.4 Territorial waters Administration ........... 27 3.4.1 Sa-fety of navigation ...................... 28 3.4.2 Protection of the marine environment .. 28 3.4.3 Marine mineral development .................................... 29 CHAPTER IV Maritime L a w ........................................ 34 4.1 Maritime Transport Legislation ............ 36 4.1.1 The Maritime Commerce Code .............. 36 4.1.2 Legislation in order to promote national shipping ...................... 39 4.1.3 Legislation -for registration o-f ships-. 4 0 4.1.4 Navigation and sa-fety at sea legislation ..... .................. 43 4.2 Ports Legislation..... ........... ........ 46 4.2.1 Harbour Master and Port P o l i c e ....... - 46 4.2.2 Migration and customs laws ............ 47 4.3 Fisheries Legislation ........................ 49 4.4 Aquatic spaces regime .... ................... 50 4.4.1 Pollution prevention legislation ..... 51 4.4.2 Marine mineral legislation ........... 54 4.5 Labour Legislation ............. ........... 55 4.5.1 Sea-farers" social security ............ 56 4.5.2 Regulations -For practicing pilotage in territorial waters .................... - 57 4.5.3 International conventions ............. 57 4.6 Maritime Health Code ........ ................. 59 CHAPTER V Maritime Policy Improvement .............................................................. 63 5.1 Maritime transport ............................................ 63 5.1.1 Shipping policy improvement ........... 64 5.1.2 National Merchant Marine .............. 69 5 .1 .3 Safety of navigation ...................... 70 5-1.4 Facilitation of the international marine t r a f f i c ................................................................ 72 5.1.5 Seafarers’ affairs ........................... 74 5.1.6 Training and participation on international fora ........................ 75 5.2 Ports policy improvement ................................. 77 5.2.1 National Ports Commission .............................. 78 5 .2 .2 Port planning ....................................................... 80 5.2.3 Port operation management ........................ 82 5 .2 .4 Port m a in te n a n c e ................................. 84 5-2.5 Environmental and safety aspects ...... 85 5.2.6 Port -financial management ...................... 87 5.2.7 Port statistics ....................................................... « • 88 5.2.8 Training ................................................................................. 90 5.3 Territorial waters policy improvement ................ 91 5.3.1 Exclusive economic zo n e ....................................... 92 5.3.2 Continental shel-f ........................................................ 93 5.3.3 Protection and preservation o-f the marine environment .............................. 93 5.3.4 Marine scienti-fic research .................... 95 5.3.5 Regional and international cooperation. 96 5.3.6 Training and technical assistance ............ 97 CHAPTER VI National Committee -for Maritime A-f-fairs............................ 100 6.1 ObJectives o-f the Committee ......................................... 100 6.2 Functional responsibilities o-f the Committee ........................................................................................... 102 6.3 The parties involved ............................................................... 104 6.4 L e g isla tiv e and reg u la to ry -framework ............. 106 6.5 Structural -factors ......................................... 107 6.6 Regional and international cooperation .................. 108 CHAPTER VII Conclusions................... 109 Bi bli ography 112 I MTFtODLJCT I OIM Guatemala is third largest of the Central American Republics, bordered on the north and west by Mexico, on the east by Honduras and El Salvador, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. The country also has a short coast line on the Caribbean <Gulf of Honduras). The capital is Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America. Because of its consistently temperate climate, Guatemala has been called the 'Land of the Eternal Spring’. It has a great wealth of mineral resources besides many other natural resources, as well as marine resources in its own territorial waters and on its continental shelf. As the land based resources are being fairly well developed and are in constant process of development, it is the marine sector which is much neglected, and essentially needs to be attended. As Guatemala does not have its own national fleet, almost 9 ’5V. of Guatemala international trade is presently carried by the foreign line services, as a consequence, the country spends a sizeable amount of its foreign exchange on maritime transport which has an adverse effect on its balance of payments. Presently Guatemala’s maritime administration is spread through several ministries, with little or no direct coordination between them. 1 So -far, the government policies do not attach much importance to developing the maritime activities or to exploit its marine resources, as many others priorities are ahead o-f it. Thus, development o-f maritime activities has tended 'sporadic’ development, and often lacks in coordination, and also sometimes characterized by constitute unnecessary duplication of expensive investment. There is an essential need of awareness in the maritime sector to an adequate level within the framework of the national plan. To achieve this objective, three salient points can be identified. They are as follows: -To develop the maritime activities in Guatemala as one of the components of an integrated strategy; -To maximize the contribution of the maritime sector to enhance the country’s economic development; -To protect and preserve its marine environment and resources. This paper is an attempt to provide guidelines for the achievement of such objectives. This paper begins with a brief introduction to Guatemala giving general information and the maritime historical background of the country. The chapters that follows constitute a critical study and a broader analysis of the existing situation of the maritime affairs indicating mainly administrative and legislative aspects respectively. As the paper progresses the relevant maritime policies, administrative re-forms and updated managerial skills which are required -for the development o-f the maritime activities in Guatemala is highlighted. In the -final chapter it has been suggested that a suitable bod-y be established , which would be to develop the required maritime in-frastructure within the country; legal -framework,