MACN Launches New Platform to Combat Corruption

A new platform launched in April of this year has promised to help tackle corruption at ports during vessel calls and operations. The platform has been launched by The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) to combat the corruption that has been slowly getting worse over the years.

The platform, called The Global Port Integrity Platform (GPIP) will be available for those who are members of MACN, to report incidents and compare the integrity of various ports.

It is hoped that this new platform will encourage those who work in the maritime industry from charterers to captains, shipping agencies and port workers to be encouraged to report things that are seen.

The GPIP currently already has over 50,000 reports since 2011 and will use outside data that has been vetted by independent verifiers to provide more information on port risks.

MACN want this platform to not only be a tool for anti-corruption but to be used as a discussion forum for various partners and key stakeholders within the ports and maritime industry. The GPIP will be important to facilitate action against corruption at ports, within governments and other authorities to ensure integrity at ports is integrated and continuously worked on and improved.

They created this platform as currently there are no industrywide tools to help measure integrity and nothing that is systemic between ports, even those within the same country in some instances.

As per Cecilia Müller Torbrand, the CEO of MACN, this new and innovative platform will also highlight the ports that need investment and will be somewhere that investors can go to discover which ports need reform and trade facilitation.

Knowing that ports are now being looked at in more detail will be important to get more ports and terminals up to scratch and help keep ports in the news for the right reasons.