Jamaica has re-established its position at the heart of international maritime rule-making following its election to the International Maritime Organization's Council on Friday December 1, 2017 during the IMO 30th General Assembly meeting.
Jamaica is a Category C Council member and will serve for the 2018-2019 biennium.
Speaking at the IMO’s 30th Assembly meeting in London this week, The Honourable Minister of Transport and Mining Mike Henry said: “As a seafarer supply country the Government is committed to the training, as well as the right of seafarers to decent living and working conditions. We are also concerned with the cases of abandonment of seafarers and support the work of the IMO and ILO to address this issue. In keeping with this commitment, this year we acceded to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
“Climate change is a concern for all of us, and Caribbean countries have felt the consequences of hurricanes this year. My Government supports the Roadmap of the IMO to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping, and has established a Committee to consider a comprehensive National Emissions Policy, which will address, among other things, GHG emissions from ships in our ports and harbours.”
Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Peter Brady, Director General of the MAJ, said of the result: “I am delighted Jamaica has been elected onto Category C of the Council with a representative voice for all regulatory issues.
“This is very important for Jamaica to be elected to the Council as a responsible maritime nation that represents not only our own interests, but also those of other Caribbean States, Small Island Developing States, and least developed countries, as we have similar economic profiles and maritime issues.”
The Maritime Authority of Jamaica’s (MAJ) Director General, Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Peter Brady chaired the former IMO’s Standards of Training and Watchkeeping (STW) sub-committee between 2003 and 2012, now called the Human Resource Training and Watchkeeping Sub Committee. In 2007 he was first appointed to the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden, and in 2015 was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Board and has since presided at the annual meeting, and as Chairman in May 2016. Earlier this year he was appointed Jamaica’s Special Envoy to the IMO to bolster the country’s lobbying efforts to secure a seat on the Council.
As the largest English-speaking Island state in the Caribbean, Jamaica has had a long history of involvement in maritime affairs, which has played an integral role in the socio-economic development of the country. It has been a member of the IMO since 1976 and was first elected onto the Council in 2007. It was re-elected for the terms of 2010-2011, 2012-2013 and 2014-2015.
Jamaica was represented at the IMO by the Jamaican High Commission in London, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Ministry of Transport and Mining, Maritime Authority of Jamaica and Caribbean Maritime University.
Notes to Editors:
- IMO Council Category C comprises 20 member States
- Category C members for the next two-year term are: Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey.
- The Council is the highest decision-making body of this United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for maritime safety, security and protection of the marine environment. It comprises 170 Member States and three Associate Members.
- Categories ‘A’ and ‘B’ each comprise 10 states with the largest interest in providing international shipping services.
- Category ‘C’, to which Jamaica has been re-elected, embodies 20 states not elected under Categories ‘A’ or ‘B’, which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world.
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