The International Maritime Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference held in Geneva in 1948 and the IMO came into existence ten years later,meeting for the first time on 17 March 1958. Headquartered in London,United Kingdom,IMO currently has 175 Member States and three Associate Members.
Maritime transport or more generally waterborne transport,is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throughout recorded history. The advent of aviation has diminished the importance of sea travel for passengers,though it is still popular for short trips and pleasure cruises. Transport by water is cheaper than transport by air or ground,but significantly slower for longer distances. Maritime transport accounts for roughly 80% of international trade,according to UNCTAD in 2020.
Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners,and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country,called the flag state. The term is often used pejoratively,and although common,the practice is sometimes regarded as contentious.
The World Maritime University(WMU) in Malmö,Sweden,is a postgraduate maritime university founded within the framework of the International Maritime Organization (IMO),a specialized agency of the United Nations. Established by an IMO Assembly Resolution in 1983,the aim of WMU is to further enhance the objectives and goals of IMO and IMO member States around the world through education,research,and capacity building.
Chandrika Prasad Srivastava KCMG,ComIH,IAS (Retd.) was an Indian civil servant,international administrator,and diplomat.
A wiper is a position responsible for both cleaning the engine spaces and machinery of a ship and assisting the ship's engineers as directed. Railroad workers who performed similar jobs were also known as wipers,or in the UK as "cleaners".
The International Chamber of Shipping is one of the world's principal shipping organisations,representing around 80% of the world's merchant tonnage through membership by national shipowners' associations. It is concerned with maritime regulatory,operational and legal issues. Its membership includes over 40 national shipowner organisations.
The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) is an International Labour Organization (ILO) convention,number 186,established in 2006 as the fourth pillar of international maritime law and embodies "all up-to-date standards of existing international maritime labour Conventions and Recommendations,as well as the fundamental principles to be found in other international labour Conventions". The other pillars are the SOLAS,STCW and MARPOL. The treaties applies to all ships entering the harbours of parties to the treaty (port states),as well as to all ships flying the flag of state party (flag states,as of 2021:over 91 per cent).
Piracy in the 21st century has taken place in a number of waters around the world,including the Gulf of Guinea,Strait of Malacca,Sulu and Celebes Seas,Indian Ocean,and Falcon Lake.
Filipino seamen,also referred to as Filipino seafarers or Filipino sailors,are seamen,sailors,or seafarers from the Philippines. Although,in general,the term "Filipino seamen" may include personnel from the Philippine Navy or the Philippine Marine Corps,it specifically refers to overseas Filipinos who are "sea-based migrant Filipino workers".
Efthymios (Thimio) E. Mitropoulos was the seventh Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO),a United Nations agency. Mitropoulos was elected as Secretary-General on 18 June 2003 during the 19th session of the International Maritime Organization Council. His four-year term started on 1 January 2004,and then was extended until 31 December 2011 by the IMO Council on 9 November 2006. He was succeeded by Koji Sekimizu.
Mercantile Marine Department,Pakistan is an attached department of Ports and Shipping Wing,Karachi under the Ministry of Ports and Shipping,Government of Pakistan. The department was established in 1930 under the Merchant Shipping Act,1923,which was repealed and replaced with Merchant Shipping Ordinance No. L II of 2001 in 2001. The department is headed by the Principal Officer who is also Registrar of Ships and Superintendent of Light Houses in Pakistan.
Kitack Lim is a South Korean maritime official who served as a previous Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization.
Autonomous cargo ships,also known as autonomous container ships or maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS),are crewless vessels that transport either containers or bulk cargo over navigable waters with little or no human interaction. Different methods and levels of autonomy can be achieved through monitoring and remote control from a nearby manned ship,an onshore control center or through artificial intelligence and machine learning,letting the vessel itself decide the course of action.
Radhika Menon is an Indian female Merchant Navy officer currently serving as the captain of the Indian Merchant Navy. She is also the first female captain of the Indian Merchant Navy who also leads the oil products tanker Suvarna Swarajya. In 2016,Radhika also became the first woman to receive the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. She is well known for her rescue operation which she conducted successfully in June 2015 saving seven fishermen who were trapped for a week in a boat.
The Initial IMO Strategy on the reduction of GHG emissions from ships,or Initial IMO GHG Strategy,is the framework through which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international maritime shipping. GHG emissions from shipping are about 3% of total GHG emissions,and under this strategy the IMO envisions their elimination within this century. However many companies and organizations say shipping should be decarbonized by 2050.
The Red Sea crisis is an ongoing military standoff that began on 19 October 2023,when the Iran-backed Houthi movement within Yemen launched a barrage of missiles and armed drones at Israel. The Houthis have staged multiple seizures of civilian-operated cargo ships sailing near the Yemeni coast,and have claimed any Israel-linked shipping as a target,although multiple vessels with no apparent link to Israel have also been attacked. Houthis said they will not stop until Israel ceases its war on Hamas. The crisis in the Red Sea is a part of a broader proxy war between the United States and Iran.
Galaxy Leader is a roll-on/roll-off vehicle carrier built in 2002 at Stocznia Gdynia in Gdynia,Poland. It is owned by Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen and Ray Shipping,the latter a company partly owned by Israeli businessman Abraham Ungar.
On 30 December 2023,Houthi forces in the Gulf of Aden attacked the Maersk commercial vessel Maersk Hangzhou. Early the next day,Houthis again attacked the Maersk Hangzhou,attempting to board the freighter. The Maersk Hangzhou made a distress signal,to which U.S. Navy forces of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and destroyer USS Gravely responded. The U.S.,along with Maersk security personnel aboard the ship,repelled the attack. The U.S. sank three Houthi vessels,killing ten Houthis. Maersk announced a 48-hour pause on shipping through the Red Sea following the incident.
These are timelines of the Red Sea crisis,which began on 19 October 2023.
