IMO’s 34th biennial Assembly
The most senior gathering of IMO occurred in London last week.
The 34th Assembly unanimously elected Ambassador Marine de Carné-Trécesson, of France, as its new President. She was joined by the representative of Morocco as First Vice President, and by the Maldives as Second Vice President.
As the highest governing body of the IMO, a key task has been to elect the 40 members of the IMO’s Council (which meets regularly between Assembly, in order to direct the activities of the specialist committees). The election results saw the following Flag States elected:
Category A (Ten States with the largest interest in providing international shipping services):
- China
- Greece
- Italy
- Japan
- Liberia
- Norway
- Panama
- Republic of Korea
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- United States of America
Category B (Ten States with the largest interest in international seaborne trade):
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- India
- Netherlands (Kingdom of the)
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Arab Emirates
Category C (Twenty States which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation):
- Bahamas
- Belgium
- Chile
- Cyprus
- Egypt
- Finland
- Indonesia
- Jamaica
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Nigeria
- Peru
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Türkiye
A highlight of the week was the presentation of annual IMO Awards.
- The 2025 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea was presented, in absentia, to Mr. Lee Tae-young, officer on board the fishing vessel 135 Geumseongho, nominated by the International Transport Workers Federation.
- The IMO Gender equality award for 2026 was presented to Professor Momoko Kitada, nominated by Japan.
The Nautical Institute was represented by Captain Chris O’Flaherty AFNI, Captain Aly ElSayed AFNI, Ms Katerina Sfalleou MNI and Ms Gina Kim MNI.