Whats New 2015
Ghana accedes to ballast water treaty
Ghana has acceded to the
Ballast Water Management Convention, which is a key treaty in the fight
against harmful impacts of invasive species in the marine environment. H.E. Ms.
Dzifa Ativor, Minister of Transport, Ghana, handed over the instrument of accession
to IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu today (26 November).
Ballast Water Management Convention, which is a key treaty in the fight
against harmful impacts of invasive species in the marine environment. H.E. Ms.
Dzifa Ativor, Minister of Transport, Ghana, handed over the instrument of accession
to IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu today (26 November).
Antigua and Barbuda accedes to multiple IMO treaties
Antigua and Barbuda (24 November) deposited a number of IMO treaties, including the 2005 Protocols to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the safety of Maritime navigation (SUA Convention). The main purpose of that Convention is to ensure that appropriate action is taken against people committing unlawful acts against ships. HE. Prime Minister Gaston Brown, presented the instruments to IMO Secretary-General, Koji Sekimizu. more...
Indonesia ratifies environment treaty
Indonesia today (24 November) became the latest country to ratify a key international measure for environmental protection, the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention. Aimed at preventing the spread of harmful and invasive aquatic species in ships' ballast water, the BWM Convention requires ships to have procedures in place for ballast water management. more...
Countering maritime crimes
Maritime law-enforcement officers from countries bordering the western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden are undergoing training to deal with organised transnational crimes at sea. Piracy, robbery, drug trafficking, marine terrorism, weapons’ smuggling and human trafficking are being covered during the IMO-sponsored, two-week course at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Centre (NMIOTC), in Souda Bay, Crete, Greece (16-27 November). more...
Morocco ratifies Ballast Water treaty
Morocco today (23 November) ratified the Ballast Water Management treaty, bringing the total number of ratifications to 45 States, with 32.93% of world tonnage (35% of world tonnage is needed to meet entry into force criteria). The convention is key in the fight against harmful impacts of invasive species in the marine environment. Mr. Rebbah, Transport Minister of Morocco and H.H. Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui handed over the instrument of ratification to IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu.
Protecting maritime radio frequencies
The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) has agreed to continue to preserve certain radio frequencies for use by maritime radar and not allocate them to mobile services. Radar is vital to safe navigation and the deployment of new mobile applications in those bands could have caused interference. An IMO paper advocating that position was presented to the conference. more...
Maritime transport policy seminar in Pacific
A regional seminar focusing on the development, adoption and review of national maritime transport policies in the Pacific region has been held in Suva, Fiji (23 November), ahead of a regional meeting for senior transport officials. (24-27 November). The seminar, organized by IMO and the Pacific Community, was delivered by the World Maritime University’s Patrick Donner. IMO’s Bekir Sitki Ustaoglu has been representing IMO at the seminar and regional meeting.
Addressing illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing
Address navigational hazards and marine pollution problems caused by abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear is among a series of recommendations considered by a working group on Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.The joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/IMO working group, meeting at IMO Headquarters (16-18 November), also recommended continued efforts to support and facilitate the entry into force of IMO’s 2012 Cape Town agreement on fishing vessel safety, as well as the FAO’s Port State Measures Agreement. more...
Ukraine visits
The Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom, H.E. Ms. Nataliia Galibarenko, has been appointed Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to IMO. Ms. Galibarenko presented her credentials to IMO Secretary-General Sekimizu at IMO Headquarters today (20 November). Ukraine has been a Member of IMO since 1994.