Archive 2023
IMO Council appoints Secretary-General, endorses 2024 theme
The IMO Council has decided to appoint Mr.
Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco (Republic of Panama) as IMO
Secretary-General, for an initial four-year term from 1 January 2024, following
a vote. The Council was meeting for its 129th session (17-21 July) .
Amongst other agenda items, the Council endorsed the World Maritime Theme for 2024: "Navigating the future: safety first!"; decided to award the International Maritime Prize for 2022 to Ms. Anneliese Jost of Germany; and decided to bestow the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea on Aviation Survival Technician Second Class Caleb Halle, Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, United States Coast Guard (USCG), nominated by the United States.
IMO joins Global Alliance for Drowning Prevention
IMO has joined a new global initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to address preventable deaths from drowning. The Global Alliance for Drowning Prevention (GADP) was launched at an event in Geneva to mark UN World Drowning Prevention Day, to be held each year on 25 July. The founding UN members of the Alliance are: IMO, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF and WHO.
New MENA Regional Presence Office in Egypt set to open by year end
A new Regional Presence Office (RPO) for IMO in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in Alexandria, Egypt is set to open by the end of the year, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) (20 July 2023) between IMO and Egypt.
IMO and its global maritime training institutions: building cooperation
A joint meeting of senior officials from IMO, the World Maritime University (WMU) and IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) has been held (13 July), to enhance cooperation between IMO and its two global maritime training institutions on key strategy matters and common policy areas of interest and align the institutions’ work with IMO objectives and goals.
Women in port management training in Galilee
Female participants from developing countries are undergoing training at the Port Senior Management course organized by the Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI) in Nazareth, Israel (13-24 July 2023). Funding comes from IMO through the Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) global programme on Women in Maritime.
Republic of Korea boosts funding for development projects
IMO and the Republic of Korea have signed agreements to boost Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding for two new projects, to tackle marine litter in East Asia and to develop and pilot test a tailor-made web-based e-navigation service in the Philippines; A third agreement was signed to support the port-related training needs of LDCs and SIDS to reduce emissions from the maritime sector.
The three agreements were signed (17 July) by IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim and Mr. Jonguk Hong, Director General of Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Republic of Korea.
IMO and IAPH enhance ship-port cooperation
The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) and IMO have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for future cooperation in the areas of climate and energy, data collaboration and risk and resilience of ship-to-shore operations.
The MoU was signed (17 July) by Captain K. Subramaniam, President of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), and Mr. Kitack Lim, Secretary-General, IMO. They were accompanied by Dr. Patrick Verhoeven, Managing Director of IAPH.
Getting ready for the maritime single window in the Pacific
At the 45th annual general meeting of the Pacific Maritime Transport Alliance Conference (PMTA), held in Honiara, Solomon Islands (11-13 July 2023), a representative of the Pacific Community (SPC) introduced the Pacific Ports Vision 2030-2050. Representatives of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Tonga updated participants on their preparations to implement their MSWs.
Demonstrating environmentally sound solutions to manage biofouling
Demonstrations of effective environmentally sound in-water cleaning and inspection technologies have been given at a meeting in Port Louis, Republic of Mauritius (4-5 July), as part of the TEST Biofouling project which supports countries to manage biofouling to mitigate the ecological risks associated with the transfer of Invasive Aquatic Species (IAS).