Asian Shipowners' Association (ASA) International Shipping Forum 2023: Blue and Safe Shipping

Asian Shipowners' Association (ASA) International Shipping Forum 2023: Blue and Safe Shipping

"IMO's direction towards decarbonization"

Wednesday, 26 April 2023

By Kitack Lim, Secretary-General, IMO

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be here again in Singapore for maritime week, a very special event in the international shipping calendar.

I thank the Asian Shipowners' Association for organizing this event.

Its overall theme of Blue and Safe Shipping stands at the heart of the aims of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

As the global regulator for shipping, IMO continues to ensure that the maritime sector delivers global trade safely, securely, efficiently, and sustainably.

This is critical because maritime transport continues to be the most economic and environmentally sustainable mode of transportation for large volumes of cargo.

All stakeholders, from shipowners and operators to flag and port States and to all the support and service companies on which we rely, have a responsibility to strive for blue and safe shipping, which can be achieved through the changes and transitions that are underway.

Shipping is on a journey towards sustainability.

To get there, it must embrace decarbonization, alongside digitalization, automation and innovative technology.

While also making sure that the maritime personnel, and in particular seafarers are kept front and centre of the technological transition.

Digitalization, automation and efforts towards decarbonization must go hand in hand in order to achieve the ambitious sustainability goals joining the whole world the fight against climate change.

So, the coming months are crucial to ensure that IMO showcases its global leadership towards efforts to decarbonize shipping.

We must lead the way and provide a global framework for the maritime industry to strive for green shipping and at the same time, we must ensure we leave no one behind.

IMO Member States are currently actively engaged in the process of upgrading the Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships with adoption scheduled for this July during MEPC 80.

The revised strategy, containing a basket of technical and economic measures, will provide the necessary certainty for all stakeholders to invest in future fuels and ship-related technologies setting the way towards decarbonizing shipping.

I believe that IMO Member States must be ambitious and bold enough to upgrade their vision and level of ambition.

An ambitious regulatory framework will provide the certainty needed for the industry, including shipowners, to invest in energy efficiency measures, future technologies, and alternatively fueled vessels.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We at IMO are also doing our part in fostering cooperation and collaboration and most importantly in ensuring we leave no one behind in the transition to a decarbonized and digital shipping sector.

We need to consider the disproportionate negative impact of potential GHG reduction measures on Member States, particularly, developing countries.

And we have to ensure that developing countries, and in particular, SIDS and LDCs are supported in mitigating these impacts and accelerating their efforts towards decarbonization.

IMO is currently expanding its technical cooperation and capacity building initiatives to support Member States in their implementation of measures agreed, through training, knowledge sharing and technology transfer.

But we need to do more for a successful energy transition, we will need major investment in alternative fuels research and development, infrastructure, in particular ensuring that bunkering services will be available globally.

IMO offers many opportunities, also, for the maritime industry to work with us and support our ever-expanding capacity building projects and I invite you to join us!

Ladies and gentlemen,

At this pivotal time in history, shipping is undergoing complex and substantial change. But no one is alone. We are all in this together.

And I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the shipping industry for its active participation and the immense contribution to all of IMO's work.

Collaboratively and cooperatively, we can harness this transition to keep shipping blue and safe; and to make shipping greener, more resilient, more efficient and more sustainable, for the benefit of all. We can all learn from each other.

With that thought in mind, I wish you a fruitful event with interesting discussions, and most importantly innovative ideas to ensure a blue and safe shipping industry.

Thank you.