Irregularities Found in Licensing of Panamian Naval Officers

The Maritime Authority of Panama (AMP) has performed an audit revealing that the AMP’s former administration under Roberto Linares failed to supervise the licensing process of Panamian naval officers performed by the Orion Maritime Training Center, the local daily La Prensa reports.

The public prosecutor’s office received a complaint against Linares and several other former agency officials on January 30.

Orion Maritime Training Center was an exclusive licensor of Panama’s naval officers until 2011, when Linares introduced a plan which allowed several other companies to issue evaluations or assessment of naval officers, but Orion remained the most dominant company in the business.

During the audit, the AMP investigated the mechanisms used in the assessment process, as well as the level of compliance with international standards, which discovered a number of irregularities.

The AMP also reported that Orion refused collaboration and tried to delay the audit.The company also failed to show records of all assesstments that were supposedly carried out.

It is estimated that Orion issued approximately 10,000 assessments, but it is presumed that the amount may be greater, considering that the company had operations outside Panama. Each assessment reportedly cost between USD 5,000 and USD 6,000.

The authorities are also investigating a possible intentional removal of information from the database of the Directorate of Seafarers.

Orion was closed last year following the change of government.

World Maritime News Staff; Image: AMP