Whats New 2019
IMO technical cooperation in Asia steps up a gear
The second regional Knowledge Partnership Workshop in Asia is underway in Bangkok, Thailand (16-20 December). Co-organised by IMO, Thailand’s Ministry of Transport and UNESCAP – the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia – the workshop is designed to support maritime technical cooperation activities in the region. The workshop brings together officials from transport ministries, responsible for maritime affairs, and finance ministries, responsible for official development assistance. more...
Supporting better ship recycling in Pakistan
The IMO Hong Kong Convention will set global standards for safe and environmentally-sound ship recycling, when it enters into force. A national workshop to raise awareness of the treaty and its related guidelines has taken place in Karachi, Pakistan (11-13 December), to help prepare the country for ratification and implementation of the Convention. more...
Spreading IMO’s liability and compensation regime
Countries surrounding the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have
pledged to make progress towards ratifying, implementing and enforcing IMO’s
liability and compensation regime*, thanks to a workshop in Dubai (8-12
December). The regime covers a wide range of pollution incidents,
wreck removal, carriage of passengers and luggage – providing a
system which enables liability to be determined and ensures that any
compensation due is paid.
Countries need to ratify and implement rules and regulations in order for them
to be effective. more...
Boost for IMO-led REMPEC Mediterranean marine pollution response centre
Mediterranean coastal states have agreed to increase resources for the IMO-administered Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC), which assists Mediterranean coastal states to build national capacities to prevent marine pollution from ships and act in the event of major incidents. more...
Promoting spill prevention and response in Turkey
With the rise of transport by sea of chemicals and gases (both in bulk and containerized), proper preparedness for response to potential spill incidents involving hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) is increasingly important. The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) hosted a three-day training in Tekirdağ, Turkey (3-5 December). more...
IMO at UN climate change conference - committed to cutting ship emissions
IMO has presented its latest work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping to the UN climate change conference (COP 25) in Spain (2-13 December). IMO's initial GHG strategy contains a commitment to cutting GHG emissions from shipping as a matter of urgency and to phasing them out entirely as soon as possible. The COP heard that IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) has approved draft amendments to strengthen the energy efficiency design requirements for new ships; and an intersessional working group meeting has considered various mandatory proposals aimed at reducing the carbon intensity of existing ships. more...
Towards a national oil spill contingency plan for Viet Nam
Work is underway to further develop Viet Nam’s national oil
spill contingency plan at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, this week
(26-29 November). Forty participants from across 10 government departments and
the oil and gas and shipping industry are taking part in the workshop, which is
the latest in a series of IMO-assisted events on oil spill contingency in
South-East Asia. more...
IMO training for Latin America maritime administrations
A regional workshop organised by IMO has provided senior maritime administration officials in Latin America with the latest information on current and future developments at the Organization. The workshop for the regional maritime authorities networks, ROCRAM and ROCRAM-CA was held at IMO Headquarters in London (26 November) in the margin of the 31st IMO Assembly. more...
Training maritime instructors for safe ship navigation in Polar waters
Well-trained seafarers are essential to safe
ship navigation in Polar waters and IMO has been playing its part with a
training course for maritime instructors, underway in Valparaíso, Chile (18-22
November). The course is training participants from
maritime training institutions in South America responsible for training
seafarers – with a focus on IMO’s Polar Code. more...