25th International Maritime Pilots’ Association Congress

25th International Maritime Pilots' Association Congress

Cancun, Mexico, 14 June 2022

Speech by Kitack Lim, IMO Secretary-General

IMPA President Capt. Simon Pelletier, Excellencies Distinguished pilots, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure and an honour to be with you here today for this 25th IMPA congress.

As we meet here in person, many of us are cautiously optimistic about a post-pandemic world. Yet the pandemic is not entirely over.

Pilots are key workers who kept supply chains moving throughout the worst of the pandemic and continue to do so, even providing pilotage services in PPE under the threat of COVID.

Pilots have always been vital to ensuring safety of navigation in key ports and shipping lanes globally.

You are also crucial in sustaining the global supply chain, using your specialized knowledge and expertise.

Safety and environmental protection depend on multiple stakeholders. IMO is the global regulatory body, where Member States make important decisions to promote efficient shipping – while minimizing risks to life, cargo and the environment.

But IMO recognizes the very important role that its accredited non-governmental entities, such as IMPA, play in its regulatory process. The value that their expertise adds to our discussions and in the development of regulations cannot be over-stated.

Ever since IMPA gained consultative status at IMO in 1973, we have welcomed its regular input to IMO's various technical bodies.

Your expertise supports the process to ensure that technology and the human element operate compatibly in a manner that promotes maritime safety as a first priority.

IMO has developed recommendations on training qualifications and operational procedures for pilots as well as requirements to make it easier for them to board ships, particularly in inclement weather.

Few areas of shipping are as reliant on the human element as pilotage, and I am pleased to say that IMO has identified areas where IMO resolutions encourage the use of pilots on board ships and recently adopted a new strategic direction to recognize the importance of the human element.

IMO's recognition of the importance of Pilots predates your consultative status. In 1968, IMO's Assembly adopted a resolution called Recommendation on Pilotage, which said that Governments "should organize pilotage services … where such services would contribute to the safety of navigation in a more effective way than other possible measures".

Now, IMPA's engagement goes beyond the safety of pilotage and impacts several other aspects of shipping including the promotion of digitalization, automation, and e-navigation-related developments and services and I trust that IMPA will continue its contribution to IMO's vital work.

IMO has made it a key strategy to incorporate new technologies such as those into the regulatory framework.

For example, IMO recently approved the road map and work plan to develop a Code for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships. I welcome IMPA's input into this process.

Another key policy issue is the work to combat climate change.

Only last week IMO finalized guidelines that will support the carbon intensity measures that will enter into force in November this year. 

Discussions were also held on revising the initial IMO Strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from shipping and on a "basket of candidate mid-term measures" that will integrate both technical and carbon pricing elements.

Shipping is undoubtedly in a decade of change. The pandemic prompted us to look at our ways of working, leading to a deeper recognition of maritime personnel as essential key workers.

In the years ahead we will see increased automation and digitalization and the transition to low- and zero-carbon fuels. Addressing the safety aspects of using those new fuels and the need to protect our ocean and planet will also guide our thinking.

Above all, we must ensure no one is left behind in this transition.

IMO's World Maritime Theme for 2022 is "new technologies for greener shipping".

This provides an opportunity to promote inclusive innovation, research and development, and technology cooperation, and to showcase solutions for decarbonization and for cleaner, safer and more sustainable shipping.

These ambitious goals will benefit everyone – but we must particularly consider their impact on seafarers and other marine personnel, including the need for training. 

This transition needs balanced technological solutions underpinned by safe and sustainable implementation and supported by a regulatory framework linked by three C's: cooperation, collaboration and communication.

There can be no better example of the "three Cs" approach than in maritime pilots, who are welcomed on ships to provide their professional expertise to guide ships smoothly and safely ahead.

Thank you.

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