Assumption Island will officially become a clearance port for vessels intending to cruise the outer islands of the Seychelles, after the Cabinet of Ministers endorsed the plan.
For two years, the trial project was being carried out to assess the feasibility of making Assumption Island a clearance port. Last week Wednesday (September 12), the Cabinet voted the situation permanent, according to Seychelles News Agency.
The island, situated southwest of the main island of Mahé, forms part of the Aldabra group, and is managed by the Islands Development Company (IDC).
During a press debriefing, Joachim Valmont, Director General of the Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration (SMSA) said: “Officers from the Ministry of Health, the immigrations department, the National Biosecurity Agency, custom and police officers are flown to Assumption, where they board the vessel to carry out their respective clearance procedures,” reports Seychelles News Agency. According to Johny Bastienne, Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Institutional Affairs, the transportation cost for the officers is covered by the vessel in need of clearance. Bastienne said a cruise ship can be charged around $22,100 for the service.
No physical port was built to accommodate such activities, therefore during clearance, officers verify the purpose of the vessel, why it is in Seychelles waters, as well as whom and what is onboard.
When boarding the vessels, these officers are accompanied by at least two armed security guards, who then stay onboard the vessel while it cruises in the waters, according to Valmont.
When piracy was rife in the Indian Ocean, the High-level Committee on Piracy agreed that every vessel in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Seychelles would have armed security onboard. Since the decline in piracy, the level has been reduced to at least two, regardless of the size of the vessel.
With this new clearance port, these vessels do not have to make their way to Port Victoria for clearance, said Margaret Pillay, Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Policy Affairs.
Pillay further mentioned that prior to this, the Seychelles had an agreement with Zanzibar, where these vessels would receive clearance. However, this represented several security issues, as clearance was being done outside of the Seychelles, therefore officials and government were not sure as to what was happening between the two islands.
