IMO has issued the calendar of meetings for September-December 2020, setting dates for remote sessions of the IMO Council and Committees. The first scheduled meeting is set to be a simultaneous, remote extraordinary sessions of all Committees (expected to be held 16-18 September), to address procedural matters. This follows decisions of the IMO Council's thirty‑second extraordinary session (summary here C.ES 32), which adopted interim guidance to facilitate remote sessions of the IMO Council during the COVID-19 pandemic and invited the Committees to consider utilising the same guidance.
Following the extraordinary sessions, the calendar sets the 44th session of the Facilitation (FAL) Committee (28 September - 2 October); the Council 124th session of the Council (12-14 October); the 7th meeting of the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (19‑23 October); the 102nd session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) (4-11 November); the 75th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) (16-20 November); the 107th session of the Legal Committee (27 November and 30 November-1 December) and a meeting of the IOPC Funds Assembly (2–4 December); the 70th session of the Technical Cooperation (TC) Committee (7-11 December); and the London Convention/London Protocol meeting (LC 42/LP 15) (14-15 December). The International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMSO) Assembly will meet from 16-18 December.
The IMO Council's thirty-second extraordinary session completed its work on 3 August. The Council adopted a statement recognising the importance of keeping trade flowing during the pandemic, recognising the role of seafarers and emphasising the urgent need for action on crew change. The Council also endorsed the World Maritime theme for 2021, "Seafarers: at the core of shippingʹs future". (Read full C ES 32 summary here.)