Whats New 2018
Royal visit to IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited IMO Headquarters in London (5 December). The Princess Royal was received by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim and addressed the 100th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) and took a keen interest in the proceedings, as the Committee discussed measures to enhance maritime security and piracy and armed robbery against ships. Photos here. more...
Ukraine accedes to load lines convention
Ukraine has acceded to an important IMO ship safety treaty – the 1988 Protocol relating to the International Convention on Load Lines. Limitations on the draught to which a ship may be loaded make a significant contribution to the ship's safety. These limits are given in the form of freeboards, which constitute, besides external weathertight and watertight integrity, the main objective of the Convention. more...
Maritime Safety Committee meets for busy 100th session
The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) is meeting for its milestone 100th session, with a busy agenda encompassing maritime autonomous surface ships, fatigue guidance for seafarers, polar shipping, goal-based standards and other agenda items. The MSC is being chaired by Mr. Brad Groves (Australia). Read more here. Click for photos. A special event marking 100 sessions of the MSC was held on Monday (3 December). more...
Counter terrorism training for Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka
Legal experts and port and maritime security officers from Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka have gathered at IMO in London (27-29 November) for a focused sub-regional workshop on implementing transport-related (maritime) counter terrorism instruments. The joint United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and IMO workshop was a follow-up to three national workshops and is part of an ongoing UNODC/IMO project to boost implementation of IMO maritime security and counter terrorism treaties. more...
Connecting maritime capacity-building activities with international development cooperation
The first regional donor/recipient workshop on maritime technical cooperation activities is underway in Seoul, the Republic of Korea (26-30 November). The workshop builds on the long-term resource mobilization strategy for IMO's technical cooperation activities, which encourages the development of partnerships with Member States, the United Nations system and multilateral development banks. more...
Promoting spill prevention and response in Western Mediterranean
Response plans are essential to ensure reliable national and sub-regional systems for preparedness and response, trained personnel, basic equipment and contingency plans for combating marine pollution incidents. REMPEC, the IMO-administered pollution emergency response centre in the Mediterranean, facilitated a meeting (27-28 November) of national authorities involved in the contingency plan for the Western Mediterraean. more...
ASEAN Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan adopted
IMO technical assistance and institutional support has been instrumental in the recent adoption of the ASEAN Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan. The plan was adopted by the 24th ASEAN Transport Ministers Meeting, held in Bangkok, Thailand (8 November). The Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan provides for a mechanism whereby ASEAN Member States can request and provide mutual support in response to any oil spills. more...
Expanding technology centres - integral players in cutting maritime emissions
The expanding global network of Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres is becoming an integral player in implementing IMO’s initial strategy on the reduction of GHG emissions from ships. This is especially true when it comes to capacity building, technical cooperation and R&D. The MTCC-Africa side-event on Capacity Building for Climate Mitigation in the Maritime Shipping Industry (27 November) was held during the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya (photos). more...
How can investing in alternative fuels be encouraged?
Technological innovation and the global introduction of alternative fuels and/or energy sources for international shipping will be integral to achieving the overall ambition in the Initial IMO Strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships. A meeting of the IMO Global Industry Alliance (GIA) Task Force (27 November) discussed how the GIA can support IMO in the development of measures to increase the uptake of low carbon fuels. The meeting agreed, as a next step, to hold a GIA roundtable early 2019 to discuss how early movers could be incentivised to invest in alternative fuels. more...