TRUSTEE of the Shipping Association of Guyana (SAG) Mr. Clinton Williams, was formally inducted into the Caribbean Shipping Association’s (CSA) Prestigious Silver Club at the October 2011 Annual General Meeting in Bridgetown, Barbados. This honour is in recognition of his outstanding service to the shipping industry in Guyana, the Caribbean and Latin America over the past 25 years.   It is also the highest award given by the Caribbean association which is the umbrella body for all agencies and organisations involved in the maritime industry in the region.
Williams is the third member of the local Shipping Association to have achieved this distinction.  He stands now in the prestigious company of SAG Trustee Christopher Fernandes of John Fernandes Ltd. and executive member Desmond Sears of Delmur Shipping Company.
As a senior manager then CEO of the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC), formerly Guyana National Engineering Corporation, Williams spent most of his career involved at various levels with maritime services through the company’s Maritime Services Group. 
This group comprises Ship Building & Ship Repairs, Freight Solicitation, Cargo Handling, Customs Brokerage, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering divisions.   In addition, he has been responsible for improving customer relations to enhance Market Access and Sales of the Maritime Transportation, Logistics and Shipping Services.
He was a key member of the group that established the Shipping Association of Guyana in 1995 and served as that body’s president from 2002 to 2006.  The Association was reformulated in 2005 under an IDB grant that allowed it to strengthen its capacity to provide more wide-ranging services to its membership that includes terminal owners and operators, shipping agents and brokers, and owners of Guyanese and overseas-based cargo and recreational vessels.
The 2005 SAG project culminated with a Strategic Five-Year Plan that Williams co-authored which addressed the critical rehabilitation of the Demerara port and navigation channel, improvements in port security, adherence to the international ISPS code, and the skill needs for every operation in the sector.
Later, he wrote a Concept Paper for the ‘Improvement of Operational Efficiency of the Demerara Harbour’ in which he proposed establishing a public/private sector partnership with government’s participation to acquire the necessary funding, equipment and skills for this critical rehabilitation project.  He remains very concerned that the long delay to replace the harbour’s often non-functional facilities and equipment, and the continuing build-up of hardened silt in the Demerara channel which now requires capital dredging, is having a deleterious effect on the import and export trade and, by extension, the commercial and industrial sectors of Guyana’s economy.
The channel is now at a draught of just 3.5 metres, which is too shallow to allow bulk cargo ships to enter Port Georgetown.  Even the lighter feeder vessels that transship cargo destined for Guyana from ports in the outer Caribbean must depend on high tides in order to navigate the channel coming in or going out laden with Guyana’s exports.
CSA President, Panamanian Carlos Urriola Tam, acknowledged the immense contribution that Clinton Williams has made to the maritime industry in Guyana, the Caribbean and Latin America, and his efforts to promote and sustain thriving trade relations among the various states.  Urriola himself was re-elected president at the recent AGM that was attended by hundreds of maritime executives and operators from South and Central America, the Caribbean and affiliate members from European, Asian and North American states.
Williams has received similar kudos from the Shipping Association of Guyana.