Distinguished delegates,

Before I proceed any further I would like to draw your attention to the theme for this year's World Maritime Day, which is "Technical Co operation: IMO's response to the 2005 World Summit", with special emphasis on the maritime needs of Africa. The theme was chosen to give the Organization the opportunity to contribute, from its perspective, to the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by the 2000 Millennium Summit and re-affirmed by last year's World Summit, as the world community's response to identified new needs and challenges presented by the fact that hundreds of millions of people are left defenceless against hunger, disease and environmental degradation, even though the means to protect them against these are available. Maritime activity has a key role to play in meeting these goals, for shipping moves the world's burgeoning trade, while international commerce promotes production, job creation and greater socio-economic prosperity. And the combination of all these has undoubtedly the potential to lift people from hunger and poverty and also eradicate life-threatening diseases.

Turning now to your work this week, since you last met almost one year ago, the Assembly has held its twenty fourth session and the Maritime Safety Committee its eighty first session and, under agenda item 2, you will be informed of their various decisions. Your Sub-Committee's contribution to the work of IMO has always been significant, and among the most important items of your agenda at this session, I would highlight the finalization of the work on passenger ship safety; the development of Explanatory Notes for the harmonized SOLAS chapter II-1; the revision of the Intact Stability Code and the work on the safety of small fishing vessels.

As you are aware, MSC 81 approved a comprehensive set of SOLAS amendments and associated guidelines and recommendations to address passenger ship safety. This is a demonstration of the substantial work accomplished by the Committee and the various sub committees involved in this issue. The Secretary-General is confident that, once adopted and implemented, the amendments will significantly enhance the safety of passenger ships and that the end result will meet the needs of Administrations, the industry and the travelling public.

Furthermore, the Committee, in approving draft amendments to SOLAS chapter II-1 for matters related to the safe return to port after a casualty, and water ingress detection and flood level monitoring systems, also requested your Sub Committee to consider them and advise on aspects within your competence to enable the Committee to consider the draft amendments with a view to adoption at MSC 82. This work is of significant importance as it underlines the guiding philosophy of using the ship as its own best lifeboat and I am sure you will be able to give proper recommendation to the Committee, so that the Committee can finalize its own work on this issue as scheduled.

Turning to the development of Explanatory Notes for the harmonized SOLAS chapter II-1, your task is to ensure that the provisions of the revised chapter II 1 are applied in a uniform and consistent manner by all SOLAS Contracting Governments. The revised SOLAS chapter II 1, which was adopted at MSC 80, is expected to enter into force
on 1 January 2009 and will have a significant bearing on the design and structure of future ships.
The Secretary-General would be pleased to see you finalize the interim explanatory notes as soon as possible, so that the industry will have the guidance to apply the revised chapter in a uniform and consistent manner. The considerable work undertaken by the correspondence group is greatly appreciated and will, no doubt, assist the Sub-Committee in progressing this important matter.

The comprehensive revision of the Intact Stability Code has become one of your major issues as it will significantly affect the design and, ultimately, enhance the overall safety of ships. You have almost finalized the revision which, as a first step, involved the restructuring of the Code and now, as a next step, you will embark on the development of performance-based stability criteria to replace the existing prescriptive provisions. This trend towards goal- or performance-based standards is in line with the directions given by the Organization's Strategic Plan, allowing for technological developments and novel solutions, whilst still meeting the goal of providing the highest practicable standards. Judging by the large number of documents on this item submitted to this session, it is obvious that the matter has attracted considerable attention among Member States and international organizations. Although progress has been made intersessionally by the correspondence group, a good deal of work still remains to be done and the Secretary-General would urge you to take this opportunity to progress the issue further.

Another important topic that the Sub-Committee has been dealing with, in collaboration with other sub-committees and international organizations concerned, is your work on the safety of small fishing vessels, which started at your last session with a view to developing safety standards for fishing vessels below 12 metres in length. It has been estimated by ILO, and reported by FAO, that the fishing industry suffers the highest number of fatalities per year and that the large majority of them occur on small fishing vessels. This makes your work on the safety of small fishing vessels of particular importance. As significant progress has been made by the correspondence group, the Secretary-General is confident that you will accomplish your intention to finalize the new safety standards before the target completion date. In so doing, you will have achieved a significant milestone that will be much appreciated and applauded throughout the world and, particularly, in the developing regions.

Mr. Chairman,

So far I have highlighted only some substantive items before the Sub Committee this week. Other important issues on your agenda relate to the harmonization of damage stability provisions in all IMO instruments; the revision of resolution A.266(VIII); the tonnage measurement of open-top containerships; the review of the SPS Code; and the revision of MSC/Circ.650, all of which deserve equally detailed consideration.

Considerable progress has been made intersessionally by correspondence groups on various items of your work programme and the Secretary-General wishes to reiterate his appreciation to all the members of these groups, especially their co-ordinators, and all the participating Governments and organizations, for providing their expertise, time and other resources to enable the Sub-Committee to pursue these items further at this session.

Distinguished delegates,

Your attention is now invited to a few additional issues of a rather general nature.

First of all: security at IMO meetings, and, in particular, during meetings. In these turbulent times, we cannot be complacent about security and no compromise should be allowed on this vital issue. An appeal is, therefore, made to all of you to promptly abide by the security rules in place. Circular letter No.2692, providing detailed information, was issued in January and your compliance with its requirements would be much appreciated.

Secondly, from all the various and many tasks we will pursue this year, there are two that the Secretary-General considers will make a difference between a very successful term and one less successful, namely:

The Audit Scheme is widely anticipated as the catalyst in IMO's numerous, persistent and consistent attempts to eliminate sub-standard shipping. Following last year's decisions of the Council and the Assembly, based on sound advice provided by the MSC, MEPC and TCC, the Scheme is now ready for implementation. There are three things on which the Secretary-General would appreciate receiving favourable responses from our Members in this respect:

Having pledged his personal commitment to the Scheme, the Secretary-General would appreciate the support and co-operation of anyone in a position to contribute to the wide and effective implementation of the Scheme, including you, distinguished delegates. To date, the Secretariat has been notified by 23 Governments of their preparedness to be audited; two Memoranda of Co-operation have been signed between IMO and Chile and Denmark, respectively; and 57 individuals have been nominated by Governments, for consideration as auditors to assist in the implementation of the Scheme. The Secretary-General looks forward to receiving many more offers in the near future - together with the particulars of many more auditors from whom to choose audit teams.

The first phase of the refurbishment of the Organization's Headquarters building has already affected the Sub-Committee's own work schedule since this session had to be brought forward from September of this year. Therefore, your further understanding and co-operation will continue to be required for the implementation of this project, as the IMO building will be closed for approximately 12 months, between this summer and the next. In a fortnight, the Secretariat will move to offices provided by the Host Government, located at No. 55 Victoria Street, and the meetings of the Council, Committees and Sub Committees scheduled to take place during the refurbishment period will be held elsewhere in London or abroad. As far as your next meeting is concerned, arrangements have been made for it to be held in London, at the International Coffee Organization, from 30 April to 4 May 2007.

It is hoped that you will be willing and prepared to face, with resolute spirit and good humour, any discomfort and disruption from normal operations that we may experience during the refurbishment period, and that you will accept them as your contribution to our efforts to create and, eventually, pass on to the next generation of IMO delegates and staff a building worthy of the technological, IT and communication facilities of the 21st century - one, which will also incorporate state-of-the-art safety, security and health features and of which we will all be proud. Because of the limited facilities available at Victoria Street and the venues of meetings in London - compared with the facilities we enjoy at our Headquarters here - every possible effort to contribute to our endeavours to be able to continue providing the quality services you are accustomed to will be appreciated. Keeping your submissions to the minimum number of pages possible, and accepting reports from correspondence, working and drafting groups that are as short as possible will be a good example and will be appreciated.

Before concluding, your attention is drawn also to Circular letter No.2694, dated 23 January 2006 and entitled "Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza". Its purpose is to provide guidance, based on relevant recommendations of the World Health Organization, with a view to minimizing any relevant risks that may present themselves to passengers, seafarers and the public at large and ensuring that the maritime community is fully aware of the precautions that ought to be taken. The Circular makes mention of a related statement made by Transport Ministers attending the Conference on International Transport Security, held in Tokyo in January, among other things agreeing to endeavour to minimize any negative impact for transport systems arising from the disease in question.

Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates,

The volume of work ahead of you this week and the importance and complexity of the issues under examination are considerable but, under the able leadership of Mr. Gehling of Australia and with your usual spirit of co operation, you will surely be able to make progress and arrive at solutions which will serve well the cause of maritime safety, security and the protection of the marine environment.

Thank you.