IMO MARITIME SAFETY MEETING DEMARCHE (PERU)

UNCLAS LIMA 004466 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTIA EWWT ANET AORC PREL ECPS PE SUBJECT: IMO MARITIME SAFETY MEETING DEMARCHE (PERU) REF: SECSTATE 183434 ¶1. DepEconCouns delivered Reftel demarche on November 7 to Doris Sotamayor, Director for Maritime Matters at the Ministry of Foreign Relations, as well as to Vice Minister for Fisheries Alfonso Miranda. Sotamayor asked for some time to consider Reftel request, and asked for a meeting with DepEconCouns for November 22. ¶2. Sotamayor explained on 11/22 that, due to funding considerations, Peru would be unable to send a representative to the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) November 29 - December 8 meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in Istanbul. Normally Peru would send two representatives, Sotamayor said -- one from the Foreign Ministry and an official from the Peruvian Navy; she noted that it was still possible, but unlikely that a Navy representative would attend. With President Garcia's austerity program, it was hard to fund attendance at a meeting for so many days and so far away. ¶3. Sotamayor explained that while Peru had not developed an official position for the IMO meetings once it became apparent that Peru could not attend, unofficially Peru supports the U.S. positions on both Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) and augmentation of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). Concerning LRIT, Sotamayor said it was important to encourage more providers to enter the market, especially with Inmarsat system fees increasing. She shared U.S. concerns that the International Mobile Satellite Organization had too small a staff to effectively manage augmentation of LRIT and GMDSS. Regarding GMDSS, Sotamayor agreed that Safety of Life at Sea amendments should be approved at the upcoming MSC meeting. STRUBLE