
The Director of Antigua and Barbuda’s Department of Marine Services and Merchant Shipping (ADOMS) was elected to Chair one of the five Committees of the International Maritime Organisation, a United Nations Specialized Agency.
The International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC) has elected Ambassador Dwight C. R. Gardiner of Antigua and Barbuda by acclimation as its Chairman at the 73rd Session being held at the IMO Headquarters in London.
The IMO is a United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships. The TCC is one of the five subsidiary bodies of the Council – the executive organ of the IMO and is responsible for capacity-development programmes and the implementation of technical cooperation projects for which the Organization acts as the executing or cooperating agency. Its work is aligned with the maritime dimensions of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Ambassador Dwight C.R. Gardiner is currently the Director/Registrar-General of the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Marine Services and Merchant Shipping (ADOMS) – the Maritime Administration of Antigua and Barbuda. He is also the Permanent Representative of the twin island nation to the IMO and has been involved in the national maritime sector and the wider Caribbean region for over 35 years. His dossier and experience include various senior positions in the Antigua and Barbuda Maritime Administration, as well as being the former Chairman of the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control.
He is presently a Board Commissioner of the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority and the Chairman of both the National Ocean Governance and the National Maritime Boundaries Delimitation Committees. He is also the incumbent Chair of the Directors and Heads of Maritime Administrations of the Caribbean (DIHMAR) and is an International Gender Champion.
In his acceptance speech, the Ambassador thanked the members of the Committee for their faith and support in his leadership and emphasized the importance of the IMO’s technical cooperation projects for building capacity in developing States and shared his vision for a very productive meeting with everyone’s support.
Commenting on the election, the Honourable Gaston Browne, Prime Minister, and the Minister with responsibility for Merchant Shipping and Ship Registration, said, “The election of Ambassador Gardiner to this position is a testament to the strong position of Antigua and Barbuda not only in the Caribbean but in the international sphere and shows that even though we are a small island the international community trusts in our leadership.”
Ambassador Gardiner is an Attorney-at-Law and Notary Public who holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Technology, majoring in Marine Technology with Honours from the Florida Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Buckingham, and a Master of Science in Maritime Safety Administration (Nautical) from the World Maritime University (WMU). He was accorded the award of Outstanding Alumnus of the WMU in 2013 and is a current member of the WMU Board of Governors.