IMO Awards ceremony 2022

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you this evening to two memorable events: first, a special tribute to the late Mr. William O’Neil, IMO Secretary-General Emeritus, and then, to the 2022 IMO Awards Ceremony, when we will honour several outstanding individuals and organizations who have contributed to the work of IMO and those whose endeavours have saved lives and prevented marine pollution.

Now, I would like to pay special tribute to the late Mr. O’Neil, IMO Secretary-General, who sadly passed away in 2020, during the pandemic, and we were unable to pay due tribute in person during those difficult times. I would therefore like to dedicate some moments to his memory.

Bill - as we all knew him – was a great friend to the Organization and to all of us. He made a huge personal contribution to securing globally applicable safety, security and environmental standards.

As Secretary-General from 1990 to 2003, Mr. O’Neil left a lasting legacy on this Organization. He was committed to the universality of IMO and oversaw a significant increase in membership. He encouraged wide and effective participation in the Organization from all stakeholders in the maritime sector.

Mr. O’Neil’s dedication to enabling developing States to adopt and implement IMO instruments was evident through his active encouragement of new sources of extrabudgetary funding. He also worked tirelessly to strengthen the relevance and capacity of IMO’s educational institutes, the World Maritime University and the International Maritime Law Institute. 

IMO adopted a number of new treaties during his tenure and tackled many contemporary issues, ranging from maritime security after the September 2001 attacks, to ballast water management to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species.

Mr. O’Neil was driven by the need to address fundamental safety issues, personally acting to request IMO’s membership to address key safety issues, including the safety of bulk carriers and of large passenger ships. He established a team of experts to look into ro-ro safety, following the tragic sinking of the Estonia ro-ro ferry in 1994 – leading to important SOLAS amendments. 

The environment was also a focus for him. Mr. O’Neil oversaw the adoption in 1997, of MARPOL Annex VI on Prevention of Air Pollution from Ship – now expanded to include energy efficiency requirements – and revisions of the MARPOL Convention to accelerate the phase out of single hull tankers. 

The introduction of the mandatory International Safety Management (ISM) Code and the key 1997 revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, were among other landmark achievements made by IMO under Mr. O’Neil’s stewardship.  

He also left us a physical landmark: All of us who come to the IMO Headquarters building are greeted by the public memorial to seafarers, made possible by the Seafarers Memorial Fund that Mr. O’Neil established. 

He wanted it to tell all delegates, visitors and passersby a simple but significant message - that seafaring and seafarers matter. Surely, we all agree with this sentiment and recognize Mr. O’Neil’s true dedication to all things maritime. 

We are joined today by Mrs. O’Neil and other family and friends of Mr. O’Neil, Olga – I first met Bill O’Neil as a delegate to IMO. He was my mentor and friend – and I am very honoured to have known him.

Tonight, we would like to invite you to view a compilation of precious memories in honour of a true friend and an accomplished Secretary-General. 

Thank you. 

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Professor Attard – David, 

You have been at IMLI’s heart since the beginning. It is thanks to you, the late Maltese Minister Dr Joseph Fenech and the late Secretary-General C.P. Srivastava that the idea of an IMO International Maritime Law institute was planted.  

The Institute was set up in 1988 and the rest, as they say, is history.

You were in the right place at the right time. Your legal education had taken you from Malta to Oxford University and then to the bar in London. In the 1980s, you were a member of and consultant to IMO’s Maltese Delegation. 

But IMLI became your life’s work. Starting as a special advisor to the founding Director and serving as an active teacher, also tasked, as a member of an international group of experts, with development of the Institute's first syllabus. You became a member of IMLI’s Governing Board in 1989 and were appointed Director of the Institute in 1992, starting three decades of dedicated service.

Your long stint at IMLI’s helm has been instrumental in turning IMLI into the world-wide known centre of academic excellence that it is today and has ensured that its work has been recognized by many international bodies including not only IMO’s Assembly and Technical Cooperation Committee, but also by the United Nations General Assembly itself. 

Under your tenure and thanks to your expertise, IMLI through its education, training and research agenda has greatly contributed to the advancement of capacity building around the world, and IMLI publications have become must-haves for students, researchers and maritime lawyers.

Many delegates present today are here because of their studies at IMLI. After graduating, they used their acquired knowledge to develop their countries’ national legislative frameworks and helped their States implement IMO treaties into national law. 

As the cohort of IMLI students graduates continues to grow, IMO fully appreciates their expertise.

The total number of IMLI graduates now exceeds 1,000 students from 151 countries. It is also to your credit that IMLI included in its Statute in 1988 a visionary policy that 50% of its places be reserved for deserving female candidates.  Many of the Institute's female alumnae occupy important international or national positions in the maritime community.

Their success and that of all IMLI graduates is a tribute to you, David. 

Your impact on the maritime world and on IMO’s work has been outstanding. 

It brings me enormous pleasure to give you my sincere congratulations and to present you with this year’s International Maritime Prize. 

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