IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim is in Russia this week (16-20 September) for a series of high-level meetings with ministers and officials. After talks in Moscow with the Minister and Deputy Minister of Transport and the Head of the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency, Mr Lim moved on to Vladivostok. There he visited the sail training ship "Nadezhda" (pictured) and the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University before speaking at the opening of a meeting of the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control.
Port State Control is the process, supported by IMO, by which officials in ports can board visiting foreign-flag vessels to verify compliance with international safety and pollution standards. In a speech to the meeting, Mr Lim praised Port State Control officers as being the “front line” of effective implementation for IMO’s global shipping regulations and hinted at an expanded role embracing education and advocacy.