Myanmar is the latest country to benefit from IMO’s work to enhance marine oil spill preparedness and response in the ASEAN region. A training course for senior officials and members of the national oil spill management team is taking place in Yangon, Myanmar (12-14 November). The training is focused on the effective response to oil spills, including on both managing risks from shipping and incident management. It builds on on-going efforts by the Myanmar National Task Force for the development of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan, which is reaching finalization. The training course coincides with the completion of the plan, and will be followed by two further activities – a national consultation workshop and a national level table-top exercise – to discuss and test the final draft of the plan. This activity is carried out within the framework of the Global Initiative for South East Asia (GI SEA), a partnership between IMO and IPIECA**, supported by Norway’s Oil for Development Programme. * IMO-OPRC (Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation) Level 3 Training Course ** The global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues
In the event of a marine oil spill, relevant government agencies in the affected region need to manage and coordinate a response. This scenario was part of a training event on oil spill preparedness and response for countries* in eastern Africa, held in Dar Es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania (6-9 November).
The training gathered relevant government agency representatives with responsibilities in spill response. It focused on assessment and response to incidents where oil reaches the shoreline – providing an understanding of how oil affects the local environment, the different vulnerabilities present in the region and how to prioritize response actions.
Participants were also informed on clean up techniques appropriate for different shoreline types and on how to organize and perform shore surveys and surveillance in order enhance situational awareness, using the Shoreline Clean up Assessment Technique (SCAT) principles.
Other aspects covered included communication within the spill response management team, waste management, development of response strategies and site work plans, understanding how to efficiently use available shoreline response equipment and understanding when and how to terminate a response. Discussions were also held on the integration of shoreline response considerations within the national framework for preparedness and response to oil spills.
The event was a collaboration between IMO, UN Environment and the Government of Norway’s Oil for Development Programme.
* Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania, and Uganda.
Officials from various government entities in Mexico have received training in how to develop a National Maritime Transport Policy (NMPT). The concept is being promoted by IMO as a good governance practice to guide planning, decision making and legislation in the maritime sector, and as a key driver for a country's sustainable development. This IMO video further explains what a NMPT is and how it can give a country the tools it needs to become an effective participant in the maritime sector.
Representatives from the Mexican Navy and from other Government bodies and other stakeholders involved in the development of NMTPs were trained on the formulation process and content of maritime transport policy with the aim being to assist them to put into place a NMTP for Mexico as well as a strategy for its implementation.
The workshop took place in Mexico City (7-9 November) and was organized by IMO in close cooperation with the Unit for the Captain of the Port Offices and Maritime Affairs (UNICAPAM) of the Secretariat of the Mexican Navy (SEMAR) and with the involvement of the World Maritime University (WMU).
Fishing is one of the world's most dangerous professions. But many people rely on the fishing industry for their livelihoods, especially women who often face difficult conditions. Women are present in all the activities of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. During the first International Conference of Women in Fisheries, held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain (5 - 7 November), IMO delivered a presentation on its Women in Maritime gender programme. IMO highlighted how, over the last 30 years, the organization has facilitated access to high-level technical training for women in the maritime sector. This is a model which other participants such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have agreed to emulate. Both FAO and ILO plan to work with IMO to develop project proposals to help increase women's recruitment and access to training in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
Participants also discussed various topics such as working conditions, the role of women in aquacultures and women's associations and leadership - and heard how IMO has successfully facilitated the establishment of women in maritime networks across the globe.
Following a series of workshops, the participants concluded the conference by adopting the Santiago de Compostela Declaration for Equal Opportunities in the Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors. The declaration pledges participants readiness to work together to develop a global strategy to promote equal opportunities and lists a number of necessary steps to achieve this. These include collecting data to identify gender gaps, improving working conditions, increasing women's access to training and fostering empowerment and leadership through the formation of women's associations within the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
The IMO regulation that sets out preventive security measures on detecting and deterring threats to ships and port facilities – the ISPS Code* – is the subject of a training workshop taking place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (5-9 November).
The workshop is helping so-called Designated Authority (DA) and Port Facility Security Officers (PFSOs) to improve their knowledge of how to implement the relevant provisions in the ISPS Code and SOLAS Chapter XI-2. The event follows a national maritime security workshop on design and conduct of drills and exercises organized for Trinidad and Tobago by IMO last year, the outcomes of which are being addressed in part by this new workshop.
Participants are also reviewing the practical guidance contained in the "Guide to maritime security and the ISPS Code", which addresses, in particular, the security responsibilities of governments, national authorities, port facilities and operators. For participants from the DA, the workshop will also provide a solid grounding on the oversight roles and responsibilities of the DA.
Find out more about IMO's maritime security work, here.
* International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code
Material jettisoned during space vehicle launches could impact on the marine environment. This is one of a number of emerging issues being discussed by Parties to the treaties which regulate the dumping of wastes at sea. The Scientific Group of the London Convention and London Protocol is reporting on its ongoing assessment of the issue of space debris to the annual meeting of the Parties (5-9 November). The meeting is also looking at the disposal of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) vessels, since a large number of abandoned or no-longer usable FRP vessels - including fishing vessels and leisure craft - are dumped at sea each year, possibly due to a lack of land-based disposal facilities. Other items on the agenda include providing input to the IMO Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships, and the ongoing review of the specific guidelines for assessment for dumping of platforms or other man-made structures at sea. The 40th Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Convention and the 13th Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Protocol was opened by IMO Director Hiroyuki Yamada on behalf of Secretary-General Kitack Lim. The chair is Mrs. Azara Prempeh (Ghana). (Photos here).
As a United Nations agency, IMO is firmly committed to the Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is about delivering quality education. An important element of its efforts in this regard are its two maritime educational institutions – the World Maritime University (WMU) and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI). Both are focussed on delivering high-level education in maritime-related subjects to students from developing countries.
Sunday 4 November saw the graduation ceremony for WMU’s class of 2018. One of the largest to date, it comprised 267 graduates from 71 countries – a third of whom are women. There were 124 MSc graduates from the WMU’s Malmö headquarters and 58 from its China programme, plus two PhD graduates and 83 graduates from WMU’s distance-learning programmes.
This year, WMU is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Since its inception, its curriculum has expanded and evolved, from initial programmes in maritime safety and marine environment protection, to embrace maritime energy management and ocean sustainability, governance and management. The class of 2018 brings the total number of WMU graduates to 4,921 from 168 countries, many of whom have gone on to hold senior positions in their countries and in the wider maritime world. Current IMO Secretary-General and WMU Chancellor Kitack Lim is himself a WMU graduate.
Commercial fishing is one of the world's most dangerous professions yet the internationally-binding instrument which specifically addresses fishing vessel safety, the Cape Town Agreement, is not yet in force – because it needs more countries to ratify it.
That's why IMO has teamed up with the Pew Charitable Trust, an NGO, to organise a series of seminars for government officials and industry representatives in key developing countries, to raise awareness of the Cape Town Agreement and the benefits of ratifying it. These benefits include fewer accidents, fewer lives lost and a more effective infrastructure for monitoring and targeting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
The most recent of these seminars were held during October, in the Philippines and in Indonesia. A number of other interested organizations took part, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Labor Organization, the Apostleship of the Sea, the Lloyds Register Foundation, and the Fisheries and Marine Institute of the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
The Cape Town Agreement will enter into force 12 months after at least 22 States, with an aggregate 3,600 fishing vessels of 24 m in length and over operating on the high seas have ratified it. But, to date (November 2018), just 10 countries with 1,020 fishing vessels, have ratified it.
Auditing IMO Member States to assess how effectively they administer key IMO treaties is an important part of the Organization's work to ensure its regulatory framework is universally adopted and implemented.
A regional training course for auditors under the IMO's Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) took place in Busan, Republic of Korea (29 October - 2 November).
The training provided specific skills in auditing Member States using the IMO Instruments Implementation Code as the audit standard. Participants were made up of senior maritime administration personnel who are, or will be, involved in preparing their respective countries to undergo the audit by carrying out internal audits.
The scheme, which became mandatory in January 2016, has carried out 56 mandatory audits. Five additional audits are planned to take place by the end of 2018.
All IMO Member States are required to take part in a mandatory audit within the seven-year audit cycle.
The training course was organized by IMO and hosted and sponsored by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, RoK. Thirty-eight nominees from 19* IMO Member States/Associate Member States participated in the Busan course.
*Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam
Practical efforts to implement ship energy-efficiency measures and promote technology transfer are an integral part of IMO’s initial strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships. This is embodied in the global network for energy-efficient shipping under the GMN project, funded by the European Union and run by IMO. Representatives from the five Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres (MTCCs) in the GMN network recently met for their second annual meeting (22-26 October) in London, United Kingdom, on the sidelines of IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73) meeting.
Technical training for MTCC staff on energy efficiency in ship design and operations, port energy management and adaptation to climate change was complemented by a dedicated technology providers’ session - featuring presentations on harnessing wind power, electric and digital solutions, and a vision of how ports of the future might look.
The network of five MTCCS - in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific - is being funded to demonstrate and learn lessons from implementing a voluntary pilot data-collection and reporting systems and to provide leadership in promoting ship energy-efficiency technologies and operations, and the reduction of harmful emissions from ships.
The meeting provided an opportunity for MTCC heads to consider priorities for 2020 and to meet with the project’s Global Stakeholders Committee, which brings together technical experts to share ideas and provide long-term strategic guidance.
Meanwhile, Member States meeting in the MEPC confirmed their commitment and support to capacity building projects like the GMN. The MEPC agreed in principle to consider, at its next session, sustainable funding mechanisms for the future, including the possible establishment of a voluntary multi-donor trust fund.
Libyan port and maritime security officers are receiving training on IMO’s International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code), which sets out preventive security measures to detect and deter threats to ships and port facilities.
The participants are in charge of port security throughout the country, and also include members of the national committee in charge of oversight of compliance in Libya, who will be part of a special session dedicated to oversight responsibilities. The training workshop (27-31 October) is focused on equipping the officers with the necessary skills and knowledge to plan and conduct effective self-assessments of compliance with relevant IMO regulations/guidelines*.
The workshop is being conducted in neighbouring Tunis, Tunisia, and follows the initial training of the same group of Libyan officers in April this year.
* Provisions contained in SOLAS Chapter XI-2 and the ISPS Code, and taking into account MSC.1/Circ.1192 on “Guidance on Voluntary Self-Assessment by SOLAS Contracting Governments and by Port Facilities”.
Peru has become the 51st State to accede to the IMO treaty covering dumping of wastes at sea. HE. Mr. Juan Carlos Gamarra Skeels, newly appointed Ambassador of Peru to the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative to IMO, presented his credentials when he met IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters, London (31 October) to deposit the instrument of accession to the London Protocol.
The London Protocol entered into force in 2006, modernizing the original "London Convention" dumping treaty by prohibiting all dumping at sea with the exception of wastes commonly agreed by Governments and then put on an approved list.
As part of the United Nations family, IMO is actively working towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This Agenda calls for action by all countries to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030 world-wide.
IMO is working to support this process and to ensure that the maritime sector is fully integrated into the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which is the main platform for the collaboration of the UN system at country level. An IMO-led workshop for countries in Latin America is being held in Viña del Mar, Chile (29–30 October). It brings together 46 participants from 18 Member States and a number of UN agencies* to help raise awareness of the 2030 Agenda among countries’ maritime authorities, with a focus on implementing the goals at both national and regional levels.
Speaking at the event, IMO’s Juvenal Shiundu emphasized IMO's commitment to the 2030 Agenda, and encouraged participants to fully participate in their national or regional UNDAF processes, including any technical assistance needs, to ensure that maritime sector issues are included in national implementation of the SDGs.
The event is organized through IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) together with the Chilean Maritime Authority, DIRECTEMAR. The event is the first of its type under the ITCP. IMO is planning to hold similar events across further regions world-wide.
* United Nations Development Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNDG), the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator and United Nation Development Programme (UNDP)
On 1 January 2020 an IMO requirement will reduce the sulphur content permitted in ships’ fuel-oil, globally, to just 0.5%. This will bring important health benefits. But IMO also has a process by which specific areas can be designated as Sulphur Emission Control Areas, or SECAs. Within SECAs, the requirement is for even cleaner fuel – just 0.1% sulphur. REMPEC, the IMO-administered marine pollution emergency response centre in the Mediterranean, has just concluded a study to evaluate the costs and benefits of implementing a SECA in the Mediterranean region.
According to the study, further reducing the sulphur content of marine fuels used in the Mediterranean would bear considerable costs. However, the significant health and environmental benefits, including fewer cases of respiratory diseases and premature deaths avoided annually resulting from improved air quality, generated by a Mediterranean SECA, could outweigh the overall costs.
The REMPEC study will be reviewed by a committee of technical experts from Mediterranean countries and the European Union. Further discussion will then take place during a regional workshop at REMPEC’s Malta headquarters in December.
A workshop for Turkish government and industry officials is set to boost the country’s ability to ratify and enforce IMO’s liability and compensation regime*. The event is taking place at the University of Ankara (22-26 October) as part of the master programme at the Ankara University Research Center of the Sea and Maritime Law. It is focused on the specific requirements for each convention in order for them to be enacted fully into national law.
The regime covers issues such as pollution incidents, wreck removal, carriage of passengers and luggage – providing vital protection in the event of a maritime incident. Countries need to ratify and implement rules and regulations in order for them to be effective.
Participants include representatives from the Ministry of Transport, Turkish Naval Forces and national shipowners’ associations. The workshop consists of guest-lectures by IMO, in cooperation with the International Group of P&I Clubs.
* including treaties covering wreck removal, salvage, carriage of hazardous and noxious substances, passengers, CLC, Fund, Bunkers Convention and limitation of liability.
The GI WACAF project – a collaboration between the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and IPIECA* – helps build capacity for oil spill preparedness and response in West, Central and Southern Africa. This week (22-25 October), Benin is hosting a GI WACAF workshop in order to strengthen its national oil pollution contingency plan.
Despite its limited shoreline, the country is exposed to oil spill-related risks – mainly because of the high number of oil tankers operating off its coast in the Gulf of Guinea and transiting through the Port of Cotonou. This is why, in 2006, the country established a national oil pollution prevention, preparedness and response scheme to protect the marine environment. This scheme now needs to be updated and adapted in light of new challenges and recent administrative reorganisation.
Participants from relevant national authorities are being trained on the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP), which includes testing it using a table-top exercise. The lessons learned from the exercise, as well as the findings of previous workshops and exercises, will provide a basis to further update the NOSCP.
Held in the country's economic capital, Cotonou, the workshop follows a series of similar events organised by the Beninese authorities throughout 2018 with a view to enhancing the national contingency plan. It is hosted by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Benin and the Merchant Navy.
Clément Chazot et Émilie Canova, respectively head and coordinator of the GI WACAF project, are representing IMO during the event. Two consultants from the Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (CEDRE) are also present.
* The global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues
IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73) has begun a busy session (22-26 October). On Monday, the MEPC moved ahead with its work to deliver the IMO initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships, approving a programme of follow-up actions (see here). A working group on GHG reduction will continue discussions, including the scope of the fourth IMO GHG study.
The Committee will address the implementation of the 0.50% sulphur limit. From 1 January 2020, the limit for sulphur in fuel oil used on board ships operating outside designated emission control areas will be reduced to 0.50% m/m (mass by mass). This will significantly reduce the amount of sulphur oxides emanating from ships and should have major health and environmental benefits. IMO has been working with Member States and the industry to support implementation of the new limit. MEPC 73 is expected to approve ship implementation planning guidance as well as best practice guides for Member States/coastal States and for fuel oil suppliers. The Committee is also expected to adopt an amendment to prohibit the carriage of non-compliant fuel oil (except when ships are fitted with measures such as exhaust gas cleaning systems or “scrubbers”).
Marine plastic litter is another key agenda item. The Committee is expected to develop and agree an action plan to address the issue of marine plastic litter from shipping, in the context of 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) on the oceans. A number of proposals have been put forward for consideration, covering issues such as a proposed study on the state of marine plastic litter; looking into the availability and adequacy of port reception facilities; looking at marking and retrieval of fishing gear; reporting the loss of fishing gear and containers; facilitating the delivery of retrieved fishing gear or passively-fished waste to shore facilities; reviewing training; raising awareness; and strengthening international cooperation.
Further information on the MEPC 73 agenda can be found here. The MEPC was opened by Secretary-General Kitack Lim and is being chaired by Mr. Hideaki Saito (Japan). Click for photos.
A new mentorship scheme to encourage the next generation of women into the maritime sector has been launched at the annual conference of the Women in Maritime Association, Caribbean (WiMAC), which is being held in Belize City, Belize (16-19 October). This type of scheme is consistent with IMO’s Women in Maritime programme, which supports the participation of women in both shore-based and sea-going posts, in line with the goals outlined under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls". The mentorship model will be used as a blueprint throughout the IMO-supported regional Women in Maritime Associations.
The WiMAC meeting also discussed ways to increase the visibility of the network, how to promote career progression, maritime education of women and how to increase equal opportunities for women in the industry. As well as SDG 5 on gender equality, the association has pledged its commitment to achieving the targets under SDG 14 on the oceans – which has particular relevance to the Caribbean region – and SDG 17 on partnerships. WiMAC plans to increase awareness of the maritime sector in the next generation by working to get maritime topics added to the curriculum for high schools in the region. Female high school students had the chance to attend part of the conference where they were introduced to maritime career options.
The WiMAC annual conference is meeting under the theme “Charting the course for generations of women”. Group workshops looked at gender mainstreaming and how to empower women. Participants come from 15 Caribbean countries and territories, including cadets, coast guard officials, port state control officers, maritime lawyers and other positions within the maritime private sector. The conference elected a new Governing Council for WiMAC.
The new logo for IMO’s Women in Maritime programme was unveiled during the conference. The 2019 World Maritime Day theme "Empowering Women in the Maritime Community" will give additional impetus to all the Women in Maritime Associations to raise awareness of their activities.
IMO has supported the creation of seven regional associations for women in the maritime sector in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. These associations are made up of female maritime professionals and provide a forum for networking, exchange of ideas and initiatives on industry developments, while motivating and empowering women through training.
Maritime security is a key element of IMO's work and, over many years, the Organization has developed a number of measures to help promote and sustain it. The focus is now on helping countries build their capacity to put these measures into practice.
IMO regularly partners with other agencies to do this. As part of a continuing collaboration with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a national contingency-planning exercise for the government of the Philippines was recently held in Manila (18-19 October). The objective was to help them implement and enforce maritime safety and security legislation, with an emphasis on countering terrorism, piracy and armed robbery against ships.
The so-called "table top exercise" was designed to highlight the importance of co-operation among different government departments and agencies. Through a range of evolving scenarios it enabled roles, responsibilities, processes, procedures - and how these may develop - to be determined. Gaps in current policies, plans, processes and procedures were identified, as well as areas where IMO, UNODC and other agencies might be able to help in the future.
The exercise in the Philippines followed a 2014 assessment by the UN Counter Terrorism Committee. Three other countries in South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam) will host similar exercises during the coming months.
Training in how to develop a National Maritime Transport Policy (NMPT) is underway for officials from various government entities in Yangon, Myanmar (17-19 October). The concept is being promoted by IMO as a good governance practice to guide planning, decision making and legislation in the maritime sector, and as a key driver for a country's sustainable development.
Participants from various ministries, departments, agencies and other stakeholders whose mandate and activities impact on the maritime sector are being trained on formulating such policies, with emphasis on the need for an integrated and coordinated approach.
The workshop is the latest in a series under IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme, which, in cooperation with the World Maritime University (WMU), is assisting countries to plan, develop and adopt their National Maritime Transport Policies.
Watch the recently-launched video, which explains what a NMPT is – and how it can give a country the tools it needs to become an effective participant in the maritime sector.
Reducing the amount of time ships spend waiting outside port and at anchor could significantly reduce ship emissions, according to studies carried out by members of the IMO GloMEEP Global Industry Alliance (GIA). Ships can spend hours or days waiting at anchor outside ports, but providing ships with regular updates about the availability of berths, especially in the last twelve hours prior to port arrival, can support significant reductions in ship and port emissions.
Implementing “Just-In-Time” ship operations means ships receive information in advance so they can time their arrival at the berth. This can also allow ships to slow down, providing further reduction in the carbon footprint of shipping as well as saving fuel costs. The GIA is looking into the operational and contractual barriers to implementing Just-In-Time operations in order to identify measures that could be taken by all stakeholders (including ships, port authorities, terminal operators, and others) to make Just-In-Time ship operations a global reality.
A new GIA video explaining the Just-In-Time concept was shown at IMO Headquarters, during a presentation to delegates on the sidelines of the IMO Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (15-19 October). The video can be viewed here. Presentations on Just-In-Time and barriers to its implementation can be found here.
The GIA is a public-private partnership initiative of the IMO under the framework of the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloMEEP Project. It brings together maritime industry leaders to support an energy efficient and low carbon maritime transport system. Leading shipowners and operators, classification societies, engine and technology builders and suppliers, big data providers, oil companies and ports have joined hands under the GIA to collectively identify and develop innovative solutions to address common barriers to the uptake and implementation of energy efficiency technologies and operational measures.
An intersessional working group to develop a programme of follow-up actions to IMO’s Initial strategy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships opened at IMO Headquarters (15 October). The initial strategy, adopted in April this year, sets out a vision to continue to reduce GHG emissions from international shipping and phase them out, as soon as possible - in this century. The strategy provides clear direction to the shipping sector and its partners to stimulate investment in developing low- and zero-carbon fuels and innovative energy-efficient technologies. Opening the session, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim told the meeting that “it is now time to turn the page and embark together in implementing the Initial IMO Strategy…You are cordially encouraged to engage with determination this week, setting up a clear programme, in line with the vision, principles and levels of ambition of the Initial Strategy to make it alive, so that a programme of follow-up actions can be approved next week when the (Marine Environment Protection) Committee meets.” The intersessional group will report to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73), which meets next week (22-26 October). MEPC 73 is expected to further develop and approve the proposed action plan. The intersessional meeting is chaired by Mr. Sveinung Oftedal (Norway).
REMPEC, the IMO-administered pollution emergency response centre in the Mediterranean, has agreed to coordinate its 2019 technical assistance activities with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), at a meeting in Jordan of the EU-funded SAFEMED IV project.
Following presentations by project beneficiaries highlighting their technical assistance needs, EMSA agreed on project activities until the end of 2019. REMPEC will coordinate its own activities in the Mediterranean with EMSA’s actions - on port reception facilities, ship emissions and national ballast water management strategies, among others.
The SAFEMED project, managed by EMSA, provides technical assistance to eight southern and eastern Mediterranean countries and territories*. It’s aimed at enhancing flag and port State capacities, the human element in shipping, ship and port security and marine environment protection in the Mediterranean.
Underlining IMO’s firm commitment to regional cooperation as a means to promote safe and sustainable shipping, REMPEC is involved in a number of SAFEMED IV activities - particularly those which relate to marine environment protection. This involvement complements REMPEC’s own work on helping states to ratify and implement of IMO’s environmental conventions in the Mediterranean - including regulations on air pollution control and energy efficiency, ballast water management and treaties on oil spill response and cooperation.
*Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Palestine is also a project beneficiary.
An important strategic objective for IMO is improve the way its treaties and conventions are implemented, at the national level. Domestic implementing legislation is required but audits carried out by IMO reveal that, in many countries, it either doesn’t exist or is incomplete.
To address this need, IMO offers an intensive 5-day workshop for lawyers and legislative drafters. It provides them with the tools they need to understand IMO treaties and how they are developed and adopted. The most recent such workshop was held at IMO Headquarters (1-5 October).
Participants from 16 countries* learned the general principles of drafting national legislation to implement IMO conventions, with special emphasis on the amendment process, in particular the tacit acceptance procedure. Guidance was provided on drafting techniques, and the workshop also offered an opportunity for networking and sharing experiences, particularly with regard to the challenges countries may face in implementing IMO's technical regulations into national law.
Watch a short video on last year’s workshop here.
* Argentina, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Eritrea, Malawi, Maldives, Montenegro, Nigeria, Palau, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Viet Nam and two participants from the Pacific Community (SPC).
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim visited the Islamic Republic of Iran to participate in the country's national celebration of World Maritime Day (8 September). The Secretary-General met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, and participated in a ceremony to commemorate seafarers who lost their lives aboard the Iranian-owned oil tanker Sanchi earlier this year.