Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

ICS cautions over UN ‘World Ocean Organisation’ proposals

ICS cautions over UN ‘World Ocean Organisation’ proposals
At the World Ocean Summit in San Francisco, with presentations by US secretary of state John Kerry and the UK’s Prince Charles, ICS chairman Masamichi Morooka expressed caution over proposals for a new United Nations "World Ocean Organisation", citing the fact it already has the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

While the IMO is one of the smallest UN agencies with a modest financial footprint, it still packs a punch, Morooka argued. "The IMO MARPOL Convention on pollution prevention has contributed significantly to the dramatic reduction in oil pollution from ships despite massive growth in maritime trade.

“MARPOL also addresses sulphur emissions and the reduction of CO2 from global shipping, the only global deal on CO2 emissions of its kind developed for a whole industrial sector. This will reduce CO2 from ships by 20% by 2020 with further reductions going forward."

In a statement, ICS stipulated that United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its “carefully agreed balance between the rights of nations” should remain intact, in the eventuality of a new maritime body is to be established alongside IMO.