The World Maritime University, in Malmö, Sweden, which was established under the auspices of the IMO and opened in 1983, provides advanced training for more than 100 maritime personnel annually—senior maritime teachers, surveyors, inspectors, technical managers, and administrators from developing countries. Funded by UNDP and by Sweden and other countries, the university offers two-year courses in maritime education and training, maritime safety administration, general maritime administration, and technical management of shipping companies, as well as field and other training. It is designed to help meet the urgent need of developing countries for high-level maritime personnel and to contribute to maintaining international standards for maritime safety and preventing pollution of the seas by ships.
The International Meteorological Committee
The IMO has also taken part in projects in other regions, including the Caribbean and West Africa. The protocol to the 1973 convention strengthened the provisions regarding oil pollution and at the same time was modified to incorporate the parent convention. It was amended in 1984, and further amendments were made in 1985 to Annex II, which deals with pollution by noxious liquid substances carried in bulk. Towards the mid-1930s, it was becoming increasingly evident that IMO’s designation as a non-governmental organization was incompatible with the importance that meteorology carried at that time, in the context of vast economic and technological developments being made.
- Also, research affirms that the Imo State people are predominantly Christians, and they are mostly Catholics, though some people still practice their traditional religion.
- Some of the recommendations deal with bulk cargoes, safety of fishermen and fishing vessels, liquefied gases, dangerous goods, timber deck cargoes, mobile offshore drilling units, noise levels on ships, and nuclear merchant ships.
- Moreover, relationships between IMO and the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and the International Ice Patrol were also discussed.
- The state’s rivers and lakes, including the Oguta Lake in western Imo State and the Awbana, Imo, Orashi, and Otamiri rivers, are further significant geographical features.
Under the new scheme, Member States will submit to periodic audits by the IMO to measure their performance in a number of areas – standards of training and safety, seafarer training, implementation and enforcement of IMO conventions, and ratification of pending conventions. IMCO’s first task was to update the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), established in 1914 in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster. From there its role gradually expanded to include the entire spectrum of safety-at-sea issues, resulting in an all-encompassing series of conventions and treaties that established “rules of the road” for commerce at sea and ensured that the rights of seafarers and the environment were protected.
In 1965, the IMO adopted the Convention on Facilitation of Maritime Traffic, the primary objectives of which are to prevent unnecessary delays in maritime traffic, to aid in cooperation between states, and to secure the highest practicable degree of uniformity in formalities and procedures. Furthermore, the state contributes to the economic development of the country through its natural resources. The natural resources found in the state include crude oil, natural gas, lead, calcium carbonate, solar and wind energy, zinc, and crude oil.
In addition, through its Maritime Environment Protection Committee, the IMO has been working on various other projects designed to reduce the threat of oil pollution—for example, the Regional Oil-Combating Center, established in Malta in 1976 in conjunction with UNEP. The Mediterranean is particularly vulnerable to pollution, and a massive oil pollution incident there could be catastrophic. The center’s purpose is to coordinate anti-pollution activities in the region and to help develop contingency plans that could be put into effect should a disaster occur.
“Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity” – World Maritime Day 25 September 2025
When the Nigerian civil war began in 1967, the Yakubu Gowon military authority divided what is now known as Imo State into three states, a sizable area inside the boundaries of the former Eastern Region. History has it that the majority of the native Igbo inhabitants of the Imo region were farmers who raised a range of cash and food crops, including palm fruit, one of Nigeria’s main export products at the time of independence. Tanzanian maritime agencies and port personnel are better equipped to identify and manage risks to port infrastructure, operations, and people, following a national training workshop in Dar es Salaam (18-22 August) on Port Facility Security Assessments (PFSAs). The most recent amendments have included new SOLAS chapters on the verification of compliance via the mandatory Audit Scheme and on safety measures for ships operating in polar waters under the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code). Created the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) to regulate the growing numbers of ships and seafarers engaged in global trade in the aftermath of World War II.
IMO relies almost exclusively on extra-budgetary sources for financing the International Technical Cooperation Program (TCP) and in the 1990s funding became a serious problem, in particular since the strategic reorientation of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), traditionally the core provider of TCP funding. For example, in 1990 approximately us$ 5.6 million was received from UNDP; by 1997 this support had dwindled to us$ 3.93 million. In 2000, IMO’s funding partners for the TCP included international funding agencies, regional development banks, donor countries, recipient countries, the private sector (shipping and port industries), non-Governmental organizations involved in maritime and port activities, and individuals. In addition to such conventions, whose requirements are mandatory for nations that ratify them, IMO has produced numerous codes, recommendations, and other instruments dealing with maritime questions. These do not have the legal power of conventions but can be used by governments as a basis for domestic legislation and for guidance. Some of the recommendations deal with bulk cargoes, safety of fishermen and fishing vessels, liquefied gases, dangerous goods, timber deck cargoes, mobile offshore drilling units, noise levels on ships, and nuclear merchant ships.
Committees
If an accident at sea results in pollution damage which exceeds the compensation available under the Civil Liability Convention, the fund is made available to pay an additional amount. In 1966, an IMO conference adopted the International Convention on Load Lines (LL), which sets limitations on the draught to which a ship may be loaded, an important consideration in its safety. The convention was updated by the LL Protocol of 1988, which entered into force in February 2000. The 1969 International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships is designed to establish a uniform system for tonnage measurement.
Queen Elizabeth; How Nigeria was sold for £865k
In December 2002, amendments were adopted related to maritime security, which were scheduled to enter into force in July 2004. IMO – the International Maritime Organization – is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships. The 1967 Torrey Canyon spill contaminated the coastlines of the UK, France and Spain with more than 120,000 tons (nearly a million barrels) of crude oil. To help prevent future incidents, the IMO introduced a series of measures including the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (1973), later modified by the MARPOL Protocol of 1978 and the Protocol of 1997, which introduced a new annex covering air pollution from ships. Today, the MARPOL treaty deals not only with oil spills but pollution from chemicals, sewage, garbage and emissions.
The Technical Cooperation Committee coordinates the work of the IMO in providing technical assistance in the maritime field, especially to developing countries. According to research, the state has over 163 oil wells at over 12 different locations in the state. Thus, the main petroleum companies operating in the state are Addax Petroleum, Chevron Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell and Agip. Moreover, some of the established oil-rich local government councils include Ohaji/Egbema, Oguta, Oru East, Iho, Oru West, Obowo and Ngor Okpala.
- In theory, when a ship that does not meet IMO standards enters a Member State’s territorial waters, it can be detained until the deficiencies are corrected, no matter how expensive.
- The IMO, which is headquartered in London, was initially founded by a treaty voted on by the U.N.
- That convention incorporated the “no cure, no pay” principle that has been in existence for many years and is the basis of most salvage operations today.
- Today, the MARPOL treaty deals not only with oil spills but pollution from chemicals, sewage, garbage and emissions.
The YJ-17 has previously been kept under wraps.The YJ-17, from the Eagle Strike missile family, is reported to be able to reach Mach 8, or over 6,000 mph, and to be able to hit targets at a range of 750 miles. In association with the IAEA and the European Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD, the IMO convened a conference in 1971, which adopted the Convention on Civil Liability in the Field of Maritime Carriage of Nuclear Matter. The International Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organization, adopted in 1976, concerns the use of space satellites for improved communication, enabling distress messages to be conveyed much more effectively than by conventional radio. The Legal Committee, established in the aftermath of the Torrey Canyon disaster of 1967 to deal with the legal problems arising from that incident, is responsible for any legal matter within the scope of the IMO.
Assembly
These three conventions all deal with the legal aspects of oil pollution, but the continuing boom in the transportation of oil showed that more work needed to be done on the technical side as well. The problem of oil pollution—not only as a result of accidents but also through normal tanker operations, especially the cleaning of cargo tanks—was so great in some areas that there was serious concern for the marine environment. The IMO’s general functions, as stipulated in its convention, are “consultative and advisory.” It thus serves as a forum where members can consult and exchange information on maritime matters.
The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) was another seminal piece of regulation. For the first time, Member States were required to maintain certain minimal requirements for masters, officers and watch personnel on merchant vessels. Certain codes dealing with the transport of bulk imo history chemicals and liquefied gas, have been made mandatory through amendments to the International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea. Schemes; and the Convention for Safe Containers, which provides uniform international regulations for maintaining a high level of safety in the carriage of containers by providing generally acceptable test procedures and related strength requirements. Furthermore, Imo state comprises 24 local government areas including Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu Mbaise, Ehime Mbano, Ezinihitte Mbaise, Ideato North, Ideato South, Ihitte/Uboma, Ikeduru, Isiala Mbano, and Isu, among others.
No responses yet