We’ve always assumed that there’s a common understanding amongst maritime folks of what the International Maritime Organization (IMO) does. Until yesterday, that is. Michael Cuanzon, a retired Filipino ship captain-turned-lecturer, called our attention to an article in the Kaiji Press Supplement of 7th August 2009 bylined by shipping magnate Doris Magsaysay Ho. At the age of 80, Captain Cuanzon still has a quick and inquisitive mind that can pick out what’s peculiar, off-centre or simply false. This was his latest find.
Ms Ho’s essay was entitled “Filipino Seafarers in the Japanese Maritime as a Model for Other Service Industries.” In it, she described the IMO as a UN agency based in London that “regulates and sets standards for its 167 member states to improve safety of life at sea and protect the environment.” Captain Cuanzon doesn’t buy that. “The IMO,” he says, “is a legislative not a regulating body as it does not have any police function.” The old salt has been doing his best to drive home the point in his lectures before management-level ship officers. So his criticism of Ms Ho isn’t a case of nitpicking.
And he is right, too. As summarised by Article 1(a) of the IMO Convention that entered into force in 1958, the purposes of the Organization are “to provide machinery for cooperation among Governments in the field of governmental regulation and practices relating to technical matters of all kinds affecting shipping engaged in international trade; to encourage and facilitate the general adoption of the highest practicable standards in matters concerning maritime safety, efficiency of navigation and prevention and control of marine pollution from ships.”
If that’s not enough, this excerpt from the IMO entry in Wikipedia, the free online community encyclopedia, should help clear the air: “IMO is the source of approximately 60 legal instruments that guide the regulatory development of its member states to improve safety at sea, facilitate trade among seafaring states and protect the maritime environment….” And this: “IMO regularly enacts regulations, which are broadly enforced by national and local maritime authorities in member countries, such as the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG)….”
Oh, well, to err is human. Just don’t be caught by the maverick old salt. ~Barista Uno
