Kuwait's three commercial ports are compliant with a tough new UN maritime security law that came into effect last week, a top official of the Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) said on Tuesday.
Tawfiq Shehab, the state-run authority's deputy general manager, told Reuters that KPA received certification recognised by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on June 26.
He said the certificate was for the Gulf Arab state's three commercial ports - Shuwaikh, Shuaiba and Doha - which he said are committed to internationally-recognised security and safety measures.
Kuwait, which has a tenth of global crude oil supplies, uses its three other ports - Ahmadi, Abdullah and Zoar - to export its petroleum and refined products shipments to world markets.
Shehab said he believed the three oil ports, which are under the jurisdiction of state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC), are also compliant.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of this but an oil sector official who declined to be named said he believed KPC had also received the ISPS code certification.
"Kuwait was able to meet the commitment's ahead of the deadline set by the International Maritime Organisation, which was July 1," Shehab said.
Only about half the world's ports and 53 percent of the global shipping had complied with the ISPS code on the eve of the deadline, IMO has said. Failure to comply with the new code could have meant a time-consuming inspection by port authorities or, in an extreme case, a ship being ordered back to sea.
The tiny nation of Kuwait wants to become the gateway to neighbouring Iraq's post-war reconstruction and plans to build an ultra-modern port to meet the potential increase in shipping in the region.
The new port could cost up to $3.47 billion over a 30-year span. The government has a plan underway to rehabilitate the existing six ports.
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