Council Members

The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the Organization.  Between sessions of the Assembly, the Council performs all the functions of the Assembly, except that of making recommendations to Governments on maritime safety and pollution prevention.

The Assembly, which normally meets once every two years in regular session, is responsible, among other things, for electing the Organization's 40-Member Council.

The following countries were elected by the Assembly, at its thirty-second session, to be Members of the IMO Council for the 2022-2023 biennium:

Category (a)    10 States with the largest interest in providing international shipping services:

China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Panama, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America.

Category (b)    10 States with the largest interest in international seaborne trade:

Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.

Category (c)    20 States not elected under (a) or (b) above, which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world:

The Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Türkiye and Vanuatu.