The International Maritime Organization (IMO)
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a functional organization of the United Nations (UN) that regulates shipping activities worldwide. The IMO's slogan is "safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans." Although originally put in place to avoid safety disasters like the sinking of the Titanic, the IMO's mission has expanded to consider many marine environmental issues, including oil spills, discharge of ballast water, and particularly sensitive sea areas (PSSA).
Several IMO conventions require U.N. members to observe environmentally friendly practices. Major conventions include the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), which designates the Antarctic as a special area in which ratifying parties must take certain mandatory pollution control and remediation steps; and the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, which as of 2006 strictly limits the kinds of materials that can be dumped by ships into the sea. Over 120 countries have ratified MARPOL but only 35 have ratified the 1996 Protocol. Thus, while the IMO has developed many instruments to protect the environment, they have not been widely ratified or implemented. The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of IMO provides technical advice on implementation of these conventions to member states.
ASOC recently presented a paper on major environmental problems in the Antarctic at a meeting of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee. Click here to read it. ASOC suggests that the IMO consider vessel ice-strengthening standards; banning use of heavier grade fuel oils; discharges of oily substances, sewage, graywater and waste; introduction of alien species through ballast water, hull fouling and other pathways; and establishment of a vessel traffic monitoring and information system for vessels operating in the Southern Ocean.
ASOC also presented a paper on Antarctic shipping at the XXXI Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Kiev. The paper includes several recommendations for increasing the collaboration between ATCM and IMO to protect Antarctic waters from the ever-growing impact of Antarctic shipping. These include conducting a assessment of the threats resulting from the full range of vessels operating in the region, which could be done jointly by the ATCM and IMO; increasing collaboration between national-level IMO and ATCM representatives on proposals to improve Antarctic shipping operations; urgent ratification and full implementation of existing shipping instruments by ATCPs; and greater control by Flag and Port States over vessels operating in the Antarctic region to ensure strict compliance with the highest safety and environmental standards.
Other information
-Antarctic area vessel issues. This paper was submitted at the 57th meeting of the MEPC in January 2008 and introduces several conservation measures for Antarctic waters for IMO to consider.