IMO's work on support for seafarers, GHG emissions and affiliated educational institutions have received a financial boost from the Government of Malaysia. The funds will be allocated to a range of activities:
- to provide support to seafarers on the frontline of COVID-19 – £ 25,000
- IMO Greenhouse Gases (GHG) Technical Cooperation Trust Fund – £ 25,000
- World Maritime University (WMU) – US$ 117,400
The cheques were presented to IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim by H.E. Mr. Wee Ka Siong, Minister of Transport for Malaysia, during the Malaysia's 50th anniversary in IMO reception at the Malaysian High Commission (19 October).
The funds to support seafarers on the frontline of COVID-19 will be used by IMO's Seafarer Crisis Action Team (SCAT), which has so far dealt with over 500 cases involving thousands of individual seafarers.
The multi-donor trust fund for GHG is a voluntary trust fund providing a dedicated source of financial support for technical cooperation and capacity-building activities to support the implementation of the Initial IMO GHG Strategy.
Malaysia is a Pioneer Pilot Country in the IMO-Norway GreenVoyage2050 and has recently initiated work on pilot projects to support shipping's transition towards a low carbon future.