Ukraine has successfully passed the International Maritime Organization (IMO) audit, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has said.

"We were able to organize ourselves and proved that Ukraine is a maritime state! The result of the audit gladdened not only us, but also international auditors. With an average number of comments on the audit results for each country being more than 22, Ukraine has less than 10, and only one waring," Omelyan wrote on his Facebook page.

According to him, now Ukrainian experts are invited to become IMO auditors, and Ukraine will be an example for other states, how to prepare for the audits.

The minister also pointed out the importance of the IMO audit for Ukraine, saying that 80% of the global freight traffic is by sea, and every sixth sailor in the world is Ukrainian.

The minister expressed his gratitude to the team of the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Sea Port Authority and the government team headed by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, as well as special thanks to Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine Roman Vashchuk and a group of high-ranking Canadian experts who helped the Ukrainian industry pass this audit.

As reported, in July 2017, the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine and the EDGE international technical assistance project, funded by the government of Canada, signed a joint action plan to support reforms in the maritime security sector.