By
Laura Hyde |
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will continue to focus on increasing global security and decarbonisation, as well as supporting seafarers, in 2025, according to secretary general Arsenio Dominguez.
Speaking at a press briefing held at the organisation’s headquarters in London, UK, Dominguez, who took office on 1 January 2024, encouraged Member States to focus on the positives achieved in the last 12 months but stressed the organisation would continue its efforts to support seafarers, as well as work towards safer shipping and make further progress on driving decarbonisation within the industry.
The organisation plans to “ramp up” efforts to prevent unsafe operations and the use of substandard ships by encouraging Member States to implement IMO regulations. “Substandard shipping has been an agenda item for the IMO for many years,” said Dominguez. “We don’t impose sanctions; only the United Nations Security Council imposes them, but we are ramping up the way we provide technical cooperation to Member States to enable them to be more analytical, to identify where the gaps are.”
When it comes to improving conditions for seafarers, Dominguez pledged to encourage Member States to invest in ship crews in order to tackle the rising cases of seafarer abandonment, which increased from 142 in 2023 to 310 in 2024.
“We need to look at the analysis together with the International Labour Organization and our different partners,” said Dominguez. “I know ITF Seafarers is very much engaged with us in that in that area, but we must find opportunities to tackle it directly with the Member States. I continue to ask shipowners to be responsible and, at the same time, to invest in their people.”
Dominguez also reaffirmed his commitment to increasing diversity among the IMO membership. “I will continue to campaign on diversity; I’ve made that very clear,” he said. “I'm not backing down, even though some of the big global companies now are moving away from the goals on diversity. That's not the case for the IMO, and as a secretariat, that’s not the case with the membership, because I will continue to push for progress.”
In 2025, the IMO will continue to “engage with” Member States to find and approve a solution for decarbonisation and the costs involved. Dominguez was hesitant to highlight any specific measure being considered among those being discussed for the midterm technical and economic measures for the IMO’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Strategy. These are expected to be announced in April 2025 with finalisation expected in October.
“Obviously, there is an economic cost involved with decarbonisation and UN Trade and Development has provided numbers to the IMO ranging from €8 billion to €28 billion,” said Dominguez. “But on the positive, it can create between one to four million green jobs, so this is an area where we’re working with developing countries, in particular, to tap into those opportunities.”
Dominguez stressed the importance of Member States meeting the IMO’s GHG targets for 2030 as they “create the pathway to meet the goals set for 2050”.
“The credibility of the organisation is always on the line,” said Dominguez. “We are always being scrutinised on our work and our effectiveness, and rightly so. We need to demonstrate that we’re serious about the improvements that have to be made on every part of the work we do and in the industry as a whole. This is a big year for IMO; I remain optimistic because Member States continue to engage and demonstrate that they are serious about their improvement decisions.”