Whats New 2018
Distress and safety at sea
Seafarers depend on a robust distress and safety system when life is in danger at sea. This week’s meeting of the Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue (19-23 February) will be focusing on core areas of IMO’s work relating to safety at sea. The meeting will review progress in its ongoing work to modernize the Global Maritime Distress and Safety system (GMDSS). IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim opened the session, which is being chaired by Mr. Ringo Lakeman (Netherlands). (Click for photos). more...
Policy planning lessons for maritime law students
Students from the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta are being introduced to key policy planning issues as part of IMO's on-going work to support the future leaders of the maritime world (15-16 February). The event focused on the National Maritime Transport Policy (NMTP) formulation, which is being promoted by IMO as a good governance practice to guide planning, decision making and legislation in the maritime sector more...
UN Environment visits IMO
When it comes to ocean protection and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals, IMO and UN Environment share a great deal of common ground. Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment, paid a visit to IMO today to talk with IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim about collaboration between the two Organizations, particularly how to address SDG 14 - life below water. The issue of microplastic and how to curb its presence in the ocean was discussed as a high priority, and a potential partnership with the World Maritime University, particularly its new Ocean Institute, was explored. There are clearly many areas where the two agencies can find synergies and this visit was a positive step in that direction.
Qatar accedes to Ballast Water Management Convention
Sixty-eight
countries have now signed up to IMO’s Ballast Water Management
Convention, with Qatar being the latest to accede to the treaty helping
to protect the marine environment. The signatories now
represent more than 75% of the world's merchant fleet tonnage. Under
the treaty, ships are required to manage their ballast water, which can
contain thousands of aquatic or marine microbes, plants and organisms,
which are then carried across the globe. more...
Implementing the 2020 sulphur limit
The 0.50% limit on sulphur in fuel oil on board ships (outside designated emission control areas) will come into effect on 1 January 2020. Ensuring consistent implementation of the 0.50% requirement is a key item on the agenda of IMO’s Sub-committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) which meets this week (5-9 February) at IMO headquarters, London. The meeting was opened by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim and is being chaired by Mr Sveinung Oftedal (Norway). Click for photos. more...
Fine-tuning ballast water testing
Experts from ballast water testing
facilities from around the world gathered in London (1-2 February) to discuss the
science behind ballast water management. They were meeting as part of the Global TestNet
– a forum of
organizations involved in standardization, transparency and openness of
land-based and/or shipboard testing for the certification of ballast water
management systems. more...
IMO collaborates to boost African security capability
As part of its continuing efforts to help African countries
improve their maritime security capabilities, IMO frequently works with other
partners to help support their initiatives. The United States, for example, leads two major annual
maritime security exercises in Africa and one of these, Cutlass Express, is
underway now (Feb 2018). Cutlass Express puts special emphasis on encouraging
different agencies and different countries to work together, as envisaged in
existing frameworks such as the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) – a regional
agreement against maritime crime in eastern Africa, the West Indian Ocean and the Gulf of
Aden, which
IMO helped to establish. more...
Blue border security assessment
IMO’s maritime security provisions and the IMO treaties for the suppression of unlawful acts against the safety of navigation can be seen in the wider context of the global fight against terrorism. The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED) carries out assessment visits to countries to assess their compliance with various international security instruments and UN Security Council resolutions. IMO has participated in a follow-up UNCTED assessment visit to Greece (31 January to 1 February). more...
Maritime graduates step out
Be ambitious. Make navigation safe, always. This was the message from IMO
Secretary-General Kitack Lim to young, aspirational maritime transport and
technology graduates in Alexandria, Egypt (26 January). Speaking at the Arab
Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Mr. Lim
praised the graduates’ dedication and challenged them to be ambitious in their
maritime careers and, above all else, to focus on being safe when involved in
ship navigation – no matter what the role. He also emphasized that the
International Maritime Organization would always be a place they could call
their “international home”. more...