Author Archives: N.F. Coelho

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code), and related amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) to make it mandatory, marking an historic milestone in the Organization’s work to protect ships and people aboard them, both seafarers and passengers, in the harsh environment of the waters surrounding the two poles. The continuation of this official press release can be found here.

A key step on the way to a mandatory Polar Code for ships operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters has been reached with the approval by the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the environmental provisions in the draft International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (the Polar Code), together with associated draft amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), to make the Code mandatory. You can follow this update in more detail on the IMO website

The draft International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code), along with proposed amendments to make the Code mandatory under SOLAS, were agreed by the inaugural session of the Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC 1). The basic philosophy of the IGF Code is to provide mandatory provisions for the arrangement, installation, control and monitoring of machinery, equipment and systems using low flashpoint fuels, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG),  to minimize the risk to the ship, its crew and the environment, having regard to the nature of the fuels involved. More on this can be found here.

New requirements under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) to require all ships to have plans and procedures to recover persons from the water are among a set of SOLAS amendments entering into force on 1 July 2014.  More information here.

Government, employer and worker delegates to the International Labour Conference (ILC), at the 103rd annual meeting of International Labour Organization (ILO), overwhelmingly voted in favour of approving amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC,2006) in order to better protect abandoned seafarers, and provide financial security for compensation to seafarers and their families in cases of a seafarer’s death or long-term disability. These international legal measures are aimed at improving working and living conditions for seafarers, the most globalized of the world’s workers. These amendments can be found here and this ILO press release continues here.

Countries took a major step forward in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing today as they endorsed a set of international guidelines that will hold states more accountable for the activities of fishing vessels flying their flags. The FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Flag State Performance spell out a range of actions that countries can take to ensure that vessels registered under their flags do not conduct IUU fishing, one of the greatest threats to sustainable fisheries and related livelihoods. All the information on the results of the thirty-first session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries can be found here.

Countries today endorsed a set of wide-reaching guidelines that will boost the already vital role of small-scale fishers in contributing to global food security, nutrition and poverty eradication. The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication are designed to support the world’s millions of small-scale fishers, particularly in developing countries, by promoting their human rights and safeguarding the sustainable use of the fishery resources they depend upon for their livelihoods. Those guidelines, endorsed by FAO’s Committee on Fisheries, are published here.

Ministers from participating States in the Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden (the Djibouti Code of Conduct) have recognized the need to develop a mechanism for the region to run its own counter-piracy agenda, following the successful implementation by IMO of numerous projects aimed at improving regional capacity to counter piracy by developing enhanced regional cooperation and coordination. More information on this agreement can be found here.

The fifteenth meeting of the Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea will take place between the 27-30 May, 2014, at the United Nations Headquarters. The topic of the meeting is “the role of seafood in global food security”. More information on this meeting, and all previous meetings is available here.

The European Maritime Safety Agency has just published its 5-year strategy for 2014-2019. The strategy provides clear and concrete guidelines for EMSA’s future development and has been updated to reflect the changes brought about by the revised founding regulation, in force since March 2013. The document is now available here.

The European Parliament has adopted the Commission’s proposed new Directive on marine equipment. Better rules on marine equipment in the EU will result in safer journeys for the ships and their crew, less red tape for Member States, reduced costs for business, and increased competitiveness of the EU industry. European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said “These new rules are an important development in this sector as marine equipment represents a significant fraction of the value of a ship, and its quality and safe operation are critical for the safety of the ship and its crew. It is equally important for the prevention of maritime accidents and pollution of the marine environment”. More information here.

The seventh meeting of the UN Working Group on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction took place in New York from 1 to 4 April 2014. It was the first of three meetings planned to discuss the scope, parameters and feasibility of a new instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in the high seas and international seabed area. This meeting delved deeply into the scope, parameters and feasibility of a new instrument under the convention. The vast majority of countries are now calling for a third “Implementing Agreement” to UNCLOS for this purpose. The next meeting is scheduled for the 16 to 19 June 2014. More information on the preparation and results of this meeting can be found here. A summary (not official) of this meeting has been posted here.

The International Seabed Authority is to convene a Sensibilization Seminar on April 16, 2014. The aim of the seminar is to brief representatives and delegates of Permanent Missions and Observers of the United Nations, headquartered in New York. on current issues relating to the work of the Authority including inter alia the status of seabed mineral exploration and prospects for exploitation, the work of the Council and of the Legal and Technical Commission and issues to be considered during the twentieth session of the Authority, schedule for 14-25 July 2014, Kingston, Jamaica. The event will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. More information here.