Changes in IMO structure

Enhanced focus on safety and security in reorganised Secretariat
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By Michele Witthaus |


New IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, who took office on 1 January, has announced a number of changes in the structure of the IMO Secretariat.

Assistant secretary-general Andrew Winbow has been transferred from the organisation’s Administrative Division to become director of Maritime Safety, while Jo Espinoza-Ferrey has moved from the Marine Environment Division to head the Administrative Division as its director, with Stefan Micallef taking over the post of Marine Environment director.

“The biggest challenge I see in the coming years, in terms of management of the Organization, is how to improve the ‘delivery mechanism’ in the Secretariat to address the demanding issues we face, such as anti-piracy measures, the introduction of the mandatory Member State Audit Scheme and our ever-increasing workload,” said Sekimizu. “To address this will require effective human resource deployment and redeployment, the creation of new ways of handling our work and improvements to our working methods. It will also require close co-operation between the Secretariat and Member Governments.”

Anti-piracy measures will receive a boost with the appointment of Hartmut Hesse as special representative of the Secretary-General for Maritime Security and Anti-Piracy Programmes. He will have responsibility for the implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct and will also act as the IMO representative to conferences and meetings dealing with piracy issues.

In preparation for the introduction of the mandatory Member State Audit Scheme, Sekimizu announced a reorganisation of the Sub-Division for Implementation and Coordination of the Maritime Safety Division into a Department for Member State Audit and Implementation Support in the Maritime Safety Division. Laurence Barchue was appointed as head of the new department.

IMO’s internal audit function has been strengthened with the appointment of K-R Min as senior deputy director in charge of the Internal Oversight and Ethics Office. There have also been changes to the Senior Management Committee.


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