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-third session, to be Members of the IMO Council for the 2026-2027 biennium:

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

China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Norway, Panama, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America

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

Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Netherlands (Kingdom of the), Spain, Sweden and 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, Egypt, Finland, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa and Türkiye

Alphabetical list of Council Members:

Australia

Malta

Bahamas

Mexico

Belgium

Morocco

Brazil

Netherlands (Kingdom of the)

Canada

Nigeria

Chile

Norway

China

Panama

Cyprus

Peru

Egypt

Philippines

Finland

Qatar

France

Republic of Korea

Germany

Saudi Arabia

Greece

Singapore

India

South Africa

Indonesia

Spain

Italy

Sweden

Jamaica

Türkiye

Japan

United Arab Emirates

Liberia

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Malaysia

United States of America