The IMO's general functions, as
stipulated in its convention, are
"consultative and advisory." It
thus serves as a forum where
members can consult and
exchange information on
maritime matters. It discusses
and makes recommendations on
any maritime question submitted
by member states or by other
bodies of the UN and advises
other international bodies,
including the UN itself, on
maritime matters. Various other
intergovernmental agencies deal
with specialized maritime
matters, such as atomic
propulsion for ships (IAEA),
health at sea (WHO), maritime
labor standards (ILO),
meteorology (WMO),
oceanography (UNESCO), and
ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore
communications (ITU). One of
the functions of the IMO is to
help coordinate the work in
these different fields.
The IMO is also authorized to
convene international
conferences when necessary and
to draft international maritime
conventions or agreements for
adoption by governments. These
conferences, and the
conventions resulting from them,
have been mainly concerned
with two subjects of primary
concern to the IMO: safety at
sea and the prevention of
marine pollution.
A. Safety at Sea
A conference convened by the
IMO in 1960 adopted the
International Convention on
Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) to
replace an earlier (1948)
instrument. The convention
covered a wide range of
measures designed to improve
the safety of shipping, including
subdivision and stability;
machinery and electrical
installations; fire protection,
detection, and extinction;
lifesaving appliances;
radiotelegraphy and
radiotelephony; safety of
navigation; carriage of grain;
carriage of dangerous goods;
and nuclear ships. A new
convention, incorporating
amendments to the 1960
agreement, was adopted in 1974
and entered into force in 1980.
The SOLAS convention was
updated with the SOLAS
Protocol of 1978, which entered
into force in 1981, and with the
SOLAS Protocal of 1988, which
entered into force in February
2000. In December 2002,
amendments were adopted
related to maritime security,
which were scheduled to enter
into force in July 2004.
In 1966, an IMO conference
adopted the International
Convention on Load Lines (LL),
which sets limitations on the
draught to which a ship may be
loaded, an important
consideration in its safety. The
convention was updated by the
LL Protocol of 1988, which
entered into force in February
2000. The 1969 International
Convention on Tonnage
Measurement of Ships is
designed to establish a uniform
system for tonnage
measurement.
Two conventions were adopted
in 1972, following IMO
conferences: the Convention on
the International Regulations for
Preventing Collisions at Sea,
which concerns traffic separation
schemes; and the Convention for
Safe Containers, which provides
uniform international regulations
for maintaining a high level of
safety in the carriage of
containers by providing generally
acceptable test procedures and
related strength requirements.
The International Convention on
the International Maritime
Satellite Organization, adopted in
1976, concerns the use of space
satellites for improved
communication, enabling distress
messages to be conveyed much
more effectively than by
conventional radio.
Three additional conventions
concern safety at sea: the 1977
Torremolinos Convention for the
Safety of Fishing Vessels, which
applies to new fishing vessels of
24 m (79 ft) in length or longer;
the 1978 Convention on
Standards of Training,
Certification, and Watch-keeping
for Seafarers, which aims to
establish internationally
acceptable minimum standards
for crews; and the 1979
International Convention on
Maritime Search and Rescue,
which is designed to improve
existing arrangements for
carrying out search and rescue
operations following accidents at
sea.
In September 1994, a roll-on/
roll-off (ro-ro) automobile ferry
the Estonia capsized and quickly
sank, killing over 900 people.
Following the disaster, the IMO
Maritime Safety Committee made
major changes to the safety
standards of ro-ro passenger
ships, including amendments to
the 1974 International
Convention for the Safety of Life
at Sea.
B. Prevention of Marine
Pollution
The 1954 Oil Pollution
Convention, for which the IMO
became depositary in 1959, was
the first major attempt by the
maritime
Membership of IMO
(as of March 2002)
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros Islands
Congo
Congo, Democratic Republic of
the
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran, Islamic Republic of
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Korea, Democratic People's
Republic of
Korea, Republic of
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liberia
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Moldova (Republic of)
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Syrian Arab Republic
Thailand
The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United Republic of Tanzania
United States
Uruguay
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Yugoslavia
nations to curb the impact of oil
pollution. Following a
conference convened by the
IMO, the 1954 convention was
amended in 1962, but it was the
wreck of the oil tanker Torrey
Canyon in March 1967 that fully
alerted the world to the great
dangers that the transport of oil
posed to the marine
environment. In 1969, two new
conventions were adopted: the
Convention on Intervention on
the High Seas in Cases of Oil
Pollution Casualties, which gives
states the right to intervene in
incidents on the high seas that
are likely to result in oil
pollution; and the Convention
on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution
Damage, which is intended to
ensure that adequate
compensation is available to
victims and which places the
liability for the damage on the
shipowner.
Two years later, a conference
convened by the IMO led to the
adoption of the Convention for
the Establishment of an
International Fund for
Compensation for Oil Pollution
Damage. The fund, with
headquarters in London, is made
up of contributions from oil
importers. If an accident at sea
results in pollution damage
which exceeds the compensation
available under the Civil Liability
Convention, the fund is made
available to pay an additional
amount.
These three conventions all deal
with the legal aspects of oil
pollution, but the continuing
boom in the transportation of oil
showed that more work needed
to be done on the technical side
as well. The problem of oil
pollution —not only as a result of
accidents but also through
normal tanker operations,
especially the cleaning of cargo
tanks —was so great in some
areas that there was serious
concern for the marine
environment.
In 1973, a major conference was
convened by the IMO to discuss
the whole problem of marine
pollution from ships. The result
of the conference was the
International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from
Ships, which deals not only with
oil but also with other sources of
pollution, including garbage,
sewage, and chemicals. The
convention greatly reduces the
amount of oil that can be
discharged into the sea by ships
and bans such discharges
completely in certain areas, such
as the Black Sea and the Red
Sea. It gives statutory support for
such operational procedures as
"load on top," which greatly
reduces the amount of mixtures
to be disposed of after tank
cleaning, and for segregated
ballast tanks.
A series of tanker accidents that
occurred in the winter of
1976/77 led to demands for
further action and to the
convening of the Conference on
Tanker Safety and Pollution
Prevention in 1978. The most
important measures adopted by
the conference were
incorporated in protocols to the
1974 Convention on Safety of
Life at Sea and the 1973 Marine
Pollution Convention.
The protocol to the 1973
convention strengthened the
provisions regarding oil pollution
and at the same time was
modified to incorporate the
parent convention. It was
amended in 1984, and further
amendments were made in 1985
to Annex II, which deals with
pollution by noxious liquid
substances carried in bulk.
In 1989, a conference of leading
industrial nations in Paris called
upon IMO to develop further
measures to prevent oil pollution
from ships. In 1990 IMO adopted
the International Convention on
Oil Pollution Preparedness,
Response and Cooperation
(OPRC). The convention provides
a global framework for
international cooperation in
combating major incidents or
threats of marine pollutions.
Parties to the convention will be
required to establish measures
for dealing with pollution
incidents and ships and
operators of offshore oil units
will be required to have oil
pollution emergency plans. The
convention also calls for the
establishment of stockpiles of oil
spill-combating equipment, the
holding of oil spill-combating
exercises, and the development
of detailed plans for dealing with
pollution incidents. It entered
into force in May 1995.
In addition, through its Maritime
Environment Protection
Committee, the IMO has been
working on various other
projects designed to reduce the
threat of oil pollution —for
example, the Regional Oil-
Combating Center, established in
Malta in 1976 in conjunction with
UNEP. The Mediterranean is
particularly vulnerable to
pollution, and a massive oil
pollution incident there could be
catastrophic. The center's
purpose is to coordinate anti-
pollution activities in the region
and to help develop contingency
plans that could be put into
effect should a disaster occur.
The IMO has also taken part in
projects in other regions,
including the Caribbean and
West Africa.
C. Other Maritime Questions
In 1965, the IMO adopted the
Convention on Facilitation of
Maritime Traffic, the primary
objectives of which are to
prevent unnecessary delays in
maritime traffic, to aid in
cooperation between states, and
to secure the highest practicable
degree of uniformity in
formalities and procedures.
In association with the IAEA and
the European Nuclear Energy
Agency of the OECD, the IMO
convened a conference in 1971,
which adopted the Convention
on Civil Liability in the Field of
Maritime Carriage of Nuclear
Matter.
The Convention on Carriage of
Passengers and Their Luggage,
adopted in 1974, establishes a
regime of liability for damage
suffered by passengers carried
on seagoing vessels. It declares
the carrier liable for damage or
loss suffered by passengers if the
incident is due to the fault or
neglect of the carrier. The limit
of liability was originally set at US
$ 55,000 per carriage, but on 1
November 2002, a new protocol
was adopted by the IMO, which
would substantially raise that
liability limit, to approximately US
$325,000. It was due to enter
into force 12 months after being
accepted by 10 states.
Another convention on liability,
the 1976 Convention on
Limitation of Liability for Maritime
Claims, covers two types of
claims: claims arising from loss of
life or personal injury and claims
arising from damage to ships,
harbor works, or other property.
To further clarify liability issues,
in 1996 the IMO adopted the
International Convention on
Liability and Compensation for
Damage in connection with the
Carriage of Hazardous and
Noxious Substances by Sea
(called the HNS Convention); as
of 30 November 2002, it had not
entered into force.
In addition to such conventions,
whose requirements are
mandatory for nations that ratify
them, IMO has produced
numerous codes,
recommendations, and other
instruments dealing with
maritime questions. These do not
have the legal power of
conventions but can be used by
governments as a basis for
domestic legislation and for
guidance. Some of the
recommendations deal with bulk
cargoes, safety of fishermen and
fishing vessels, liquefied gases,
dangerous goods, timber deck
cargoes, mobile offshore drilling
units, noise levels on ships, and
nuclear merchant ships.
Certain codes dealing with the
transport of bulk chemicals and
liquefied gas, have been made
mandatory through amendments
to the International Convention
on Safety of Life at Sea.
In 1988, IMO adopted the
Convention for the Suppression
of Unlawful Acts Against the
Safety of Maritime Navigation,
which entered into force in 1992.
The main purpose of the
convention is to ensure that
appropriate action is taken
against persons committing
unlawful acts against ships and
fixed platforms engaged in the
exploitation of offshore oil and
gas.
The International Convention on
Salvage was adopted in 1989,
and entered into force in July
1996. The convention is intended
to replace an instrument
adopted in Brussels in 1910. That
convention incorporated the "no
cure, no pay" principle that has
been in existence for many years
and is the basis of most salvage
operations today. However, it did
not take compensation into
account. The new convention
seeks to remedy this by making
provisions for "special
compensation" to be paid to
salvers when there is a threat to
the environment.
D. Technical Assistance and
Training
While the adoption of
conventions, codes, and
recommendations has been the
IMO's most important function,
in recent years the agency has
devoted increasing attention to
securing the effective
implementation of these
measures throughout the world.
As a result, the IMO's technical
assistance activities have become
more important, and in 1975 it
established the Technical
Cooperation Committee. The
purpose of the technical
assistance program is to help
states, many of them developing
countries, to ratify IMO
conventions and to reach the
standards contained in the
conventions and other
instruments.
Advisors and consultants
employed by the IMO, in the
field and at headquarters, deal
with such matters as maritime
safety administration, maritime
legislation, marine pollution,
training for deck and engineering
personnel, the technical aspects
of ports, and the carriage of
dangerous goods.
Through its technical assistance
program, the IMO is able to
offer advice in these and other
areas and to assist in the
acquisition of equipment and the
provision of fellowships. IMO
relies almost exclusively on extra-
budgetary sources for financing
the International Technical
Cooperation Program (TCP) and
in the 1990s funding became a
serious problem, in particular
since the strategic reorientation
of the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP),
traditionally the core provider of
TCP funding. For example, in
1990 approximately US $5.6
million was received from UNDP;
by 1997 this support had
dwindled to US $3.93 million. In
2000, IMO's funding partners for
the TCP included international
funding agencies, regional
development banks, donor
countries, recipient countries, the
private sector (shipping and port
industries), non-Governmental
organizations involved in
maritime and port activities, and
individuals.
For the 2000–01 biennium, the
total Technical Cooperation fund
was approved at US $5,010,000.
Of the total amount, 24% was
allocated to global activities, 16%
to regional coordination, 16% to
projects in Africa, 13% to projects
in Asia, 12% to projects in Latin
America and the Caribbean, 10%
to projects in Eastern Europe,
and 9% to projects in the Arab
and Mediterranean states.
The World Maritime University, in
Malmö, Sweden, which was
established under the auspices of
the IMO and opened in 1983,
provides advanced training for
more than 100 maritime
personnel annually—senior
maritime teachers, surveyors,
inspectors, technical managers,
and administrators from
developing countries. Funded by
UNDP and by Sweden and other
countries, the university offers
two-year courses in maritime
education and training, maritime
safety administration, general
maritime administration, and
technical management of
shipping companies, as well as
field and other training. It is
designed to help meet the
urgent need of developing
countries for high-level maritime
personnel and to contribute to
maintaining international
standards for maritime safety
and preventing pollution of the
seas by ships. The university
serves as the apex of an
international system of training in
the maritime field, collaborating
with regional, subregional, and
national maritime training
institutions throughout the
world. By 2002 the university had
produced more than 1,400
graduates from over 130
countries.
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