The International Maritime Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference held in Geneva in 1948 and the IMO came into existence ten years later, meeting for the first time on 17 March 1958. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, the IMO, in 2024, has 176 Member States and three Associate Members.
Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state. The term is often used pejoratively, and although common, the practice is sometimes regarded as contentious.
The World Maritime University(WMU), in Malmö, Sweden, is a postgraduate maritime university founded within the framework of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) - a specialized agency of the United Nations. Established by an IMO Assembly Resolution in 1983, the aim of WMU is to further enhance the objectives and goals of IMO and IMO member States around the world through education, research, and capacity building.
Chandrika Prasad Srivastava KCMG, ComIH, IAS (Retd.) was an Indian civil servant, international administrator, and diplomat.
The flag state of a merchant vessel is the jurisdiction under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed, and is deemed the nationality of the vessel. A merchant vessel must be registered and can only be registered in one jurisdiction, but may change the jurisdiction in which it is registered. The flag state has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under its flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of safety and pollution prevention documents. As a ship operates under the laws of its flag state, these laws are applicable if the ship is involved in an admiralty case.
The history of shipping in Cyprus traces back hundreds of years. Its geographical position at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa as well as its proximity to the Suez Canal has historically favoured merchant shipping as an important industry for this European island state. As of 2005 Cyprus holds the 9th largest merchant navy in the world and the 3rd largest in the European Union.
USS Roamer (AF-19) was the Danish refrigerated motorship African Reefer, completed 1935, of the J. Lauritzen shipping company which had put in at Madeira after Germany occupied Denmark. The ship later sailed to a U.S. port on assurances it would be treated equally with U.S. vessels chartered for war purposes. Instead it was seized by the United States Maritime Commission and placed in service under War Shipping Administration (WSA) allotment to commercial, Army transport and finally Navy use at half the rate paid for U.S. ships. The agreed to rate was not restored until 1958 after a Supreme Court judgement and Congressional action.
The environmental effects of shipping include air pollution, water pollution, acoustic, and oil pollution. Ships are responsible for more than 18% of nitrogen oxides pollution, and 3% of greenhouse gas emissions.
The IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) was established in 1988 under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its mission is to train specialists in maritime law. The Institute is currently headquartered in Malta, on the campus of the University of Malta.
Filipino seamen, also referred to as Filipino seafarers or Filipino sailors, are seamen, sailors, or seafarers from the Philippines. Although, in general, the term "Filipino seamen" may include personnel from the Philippine Navy or the Philippine Marine Corps, it specifically refers to overseas Filipinos who are "sea-based migrant Filipino workers".
Efthymios (Thimio) E. Mitropoulos was the seventh Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency. Mitropoulos was elected as Secretary-General on 18 June 2003 during the 19th session of the International Maritime Organization Council. His four-year term started on 1 January 2004, and then was extended until 31 December 2011 by the IMO Council on 9 November 2006. He was succeeded by Koji Sekimizu.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), formerly the National Maritime Authority (NMA) is a Nigerian government agency responsible for regulations related to Nigerian shipping, maritime and coastal waters. The agency also undertakes inspections and provides search and rescue services. The governing board is made up of representatives of the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Transport and those of the Navy.
As of June 2024, the State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by 145 of the 193 member states of the United Nations, or just over 75% of all UN members. It has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations General Assembly since November 2012. This limited status is largely due to the fact that the United States, a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power, has consistently used its veto or threatened to do so to block Palestine's full UN membership.
Kitack Lim is a South Korean maritime official who served as a previous Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.
Joyce Bawah Mogtari is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician who served as the Deputy Minister of Transport in Ghana. She is currently the special aide to the former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama and the flag bearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2024 Ghanaian elections. She is an experienced mediator and has done this on several occasions, both locally and internationally.
The Initial IMO Strategy on the reduction of GHG emissions from ships, or Initial IMO GHG Strategy, is the framework through which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international maritime shipping. GHG emissions from shipping are about 3% of total GHG emissions, and under this strategy the IMO envisions their elimination within this century. However many companies and organizations say shipping should be decarbonized by 2050.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was an agreement among Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations (UN) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Koji Sekimizu is a Japanese official who was Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization between 2012 and 2015, as well as Chancellor of the World Maritime University.
Arsenio Dominguez is the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. He became the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization with effect from 1 January 2024, for an initial four-year term.
A shadow fleet, also referred to as a dark fleet, is a "ship or vessel that uses concealing tactics to smuggle sanctioned goods". Shadow fleets are a direct response to international or unilateral economic sanctions. The term therefore more broadly refers to practices of sanction busting in the maritime domain through the use of un-registered or fraudulent vessels. Goods commonly exported and imported include raw materials such as oil and iron, luxury goods, weapons and defense technologies etc.
