Guardians,
We arrived in London this evening for the 26th Session of the General Assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Throughout this week I will be posting on our activities and providing some background on this very extraordinary organization that is critical to maritime safety, security, and environmental stewardship of our maritime commons. In this first installment, let’s talk about the history of the IMO (I have condensed the information here from back briefing papers for our delegation and open source information provided by IMO on their website).
The IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The UN Convention that established the IMO was adopted in Geneva in 1948 and the first meeting was held in 1949. IMO has the responsibility to develop and maintain a comprehensive regulatory framework for worldwide shipping. Throughout its history IMO has created a comprehensive body of international conventions governing ever facet of shipping including safety, environmental concerns, legal matters, technical cooperation, maritime security, and the efficiency of shipping.
Based in London, the IMO has 167 member states, three associate members, and various intergovernmental (IGO) and non-governmental organizations (NGO). I have designated by the Department of State as the Head of Delegation for the United States. The U.S. participation is a “team sport.” Providing support and advising are the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Transportation Safety Board. We also consult academia, industry groups and associations who are also represented at IMO through IGO/NGOs. In all 250 U.S. members participate in various IMO fora over the course of a year.
There are a number of conventions and treaties that have been developed, agreed on, and approved through the IMO. The three most commonly known are:
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS),
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution form Ships (MARPOL) and,
The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).
Recently, the IMO has been instrumental in advancing a global agenda regarding piracy and the need to establish a global code of conduct and a regime to attach consequences to the actions of pirates.
I will make a short address to the General Assembly on Monday and will post those remarks on this blog after their delivery. We are also looking forward to the IMO presentation of awards for bravery on Monday night where AST2 Abram Heller, who distinguished himself in the rescue of crewmen from the fish processing vessel ALASKA RANGER.
More to follow on our agenda and key issues we are addressing in this 26th Session of the General Assembly of the IMO.
ADM A
