The current Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Mr Koji Sekimizu, opened the 29th IMO Assembly yesterday and had a great wealth to say around the IMO’s progress, particularly in the areas of sustainable shipping and the environment.
His opening speech was full of reflection on milestones reached during the past biennium and flowed with expectation for the coming biennium following the removal of so many barriers during his term in office. He has firm expectation that by the end of the next biennium we will be celebrating the results of the IMO’s efforts within the past two years.
First on his list was the “historic” passing of the Polar code, which is due to enter into force on 1 January 2017. He also talked about what the IMO has accomplished through its collaboration with the World Maritime University (WMU), which has led to continued growth shaped by the demands of sustainable shipping and financial sustainability.
He also touched upon the topic of environmental management at the IMO and how the organisation has adopted paper smart policies and electronic systems to increase efficiency and reduce paper consumption.
Then conversation turned to milestones that were still in progress at the IMO, the elephant in the room being the Ballast Water Management Convention, which Sekimuzu described as being “tantalisingly close” to ratification.
In closing, Sekimizu addressed the completion of his four-year term as Secretary-General, which ends on the 31 December 2015, by thanking IMO members for the work that has been achieved. He verbally welcomed and commended his replacement Mr Kitack Lim (Republic of Korea).
More speeches followed from the current President of the IMO Assembly, Mr Ünal Çeviköz and the UK Minister for Shipping & Ports Robert Goodwill MP.
Çeviköz resonated Sekimizu’s messages of IMO’s great progress, particularly highlighting IMO’s advances in safe, secure, efficient and environmentally friendly shipping. He specified that the last biennium has been a challenging one for the IMO, but that persistence for sustainable shipping is a key theme which has so far resulted in numerous adoptions and amendments for safe and sustainable shipping. Çeviköz also welcomed the incoming President Mr Federico Trillo-Figueroa y Martínez-Conde, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative of Spain to IMO.
Mr Robert Goodwill, MP, drew upon the challenges of the last biennium and emphasised the importance of proportionate regulations that are both fair and competitive in nature. For Goodwill, regulations need to protect the environment and keep shipping safe. Goodwill also communicated his view that “radically different rules for different parts of the world rarely make sense” and that the establishment of a new strategic plan and a new framework that is clear and straightforward is essential to a safer and more efficient shipping future.
The next nine days look set to cover a range of topics, from relations with the United Nations, their specialised agencies and with non-governmental organisations, global maritime training institutions, World Maritime Days, the IMO Bravery Award and Day of the Seafarer to name a few.
You can follow all news and updates from the 29th IMO Assembly on www.fathom-ctech.com/news and via the #IMO29Assembly on twitter.
