Achievements

IMO has successfully provided maritime assistance to developing countries in all its fields of competence. The following are examples of some of the achievements of IMO’s technical cooperation programme:

• preparation of model maritime legislation that countries can adapt to their circumstances; 

• establishment and upgrading of national maritime administrations; 

• establishment and upgrading of national, regional and global maritime training institutions; 

• support for regional networks of maritime authorities; 

• development of regional port State control mechanisms; 

• establishment of regional coordinator offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, the Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago and IMO Technical Cooperation Officer within the Pacific Community (SPC) in Fiji; 

• development of national and regional contingency plans and related training courses for marine pollution preparedness and response in partnership with Governments and the industry at national, regional and international level; 

• establishment of and support to networks or associations for women employed in maritime sector; 

• promotion of regional strategies for maritime safety, marine environment protection, modernization of maritime legislation, and facilitation of international maritime traffic; 

• assistance in the development of global search and rescue plans and training of personnel to operate them; 

• development of demonstration sites for multidisciplinary activities relating to the protection of the marine environment; 

• provision of fellowships for short specialized maritime training and for studies at IMO’s global maritime training institutions; 

• development of a programme of training model courses to assist with the implementation of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978;  

• establishment of 5 Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) in Africa;

• adoption of a Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden;

• development of and strengthening partnership arrangements for technical cooperation;
  

• provision of human and institutional capacity-building to assist developing countries with the compliance of international regulations for the reduction of greenhouse gases from ships;

• development of regional and national ballast water management strategies; and

• development of safety regulations for non-Convention vessels.

IMO global maritime training institutions

Throughout the years, IMO has offered the possibility to developing and developed countries to benefit from specialised high-level maritime education and training, through the establishment of two prestigious training institutions, namely the World Maritime University (WMU) and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI). 

The establishment of these two global maritime training institutions is one of the greatest achievements of IMO in the field of technical cooperation which ensures a constant inflow of highly trained personnel for the maritime industry. This success is the fruit of an efficient partnership between IMO, Governments and donors.