Security, Budgets and Bureaucracy at the IMO

Issues ranging from global maritime security to IMO administration were placed under scrutiny during the IMO’s Council, which met in London between 2 and 6 November 2026.

Council is the executive organ of the IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the Organization’s work. The Council is made up of 40 Member States, elected by the Assembly for two-year terms.

Protection of Vital Shipping Lanes

The Secretary General noted that 25 seafarers have now lost their lives through attacks in the Persian Gulf, during the current dispute.

In his opening remarks to Council, the Secretary General stated:

“I would like to take a moment to reflect on the continuing toll that conflicts are taking on shipping and on seafarers, in several parts of the world.

“In the Strait of Hormuz, in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb, in the Eastern Mediterranean, and in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, commercial shipping continues to be exposed to attack, and seafarers continue to pay the price. 

“Becoming pawns in disputes in which they have no stake. Seafarers face arbitrary restrictions, discrimination or punitive measures that have nothing to do with their conduct. This is unacceptable and I will continue to press this point at every opportunity.”

Over 50 countries made statements that seafarers should be able to carry out their work without fear for their safety due to conflict and armed action. Merchant ships must be protected, and seafarers must not become targets.

In an associated intervention, some IMO member States noted to Council that such geopolitical conflicts should not be used as an excuse for partisan apportionment of IMO resources and technical cooperation or capacity building.  

Budget

Many delegations noted increasing budgetary pressures with concern, appealing that the Organization lives within its means and mandate. 

The approved budgets are £62,531,000 for 2026 and £63,381,000 for 2027. However, inflation places additional pressure on the figure for 2027. The IMO maintains a Special Contingency Account of £2million which may need to be used to plug any gaps. It was noted that some member States occasionally request additional programmes of wider scope whilst simultaneously requesting lower budgets - positions that are difficult to reconcile as programme demands add to long-term budgetary pressures.

Sales of IMO Publications continue to earn over £14 million per year. The profits from these sales provide additional funding to the IMO’s Technical Cooperation activities for global capacity-building programmes in less developed countries.

Funding

The IMO is primarily funded by member state contributions. These are made up from a standing baseline ‘membership fee’, plus an additional sum depending on the total tonnage on a member State’s register.

Non-payment of contributions may result in removal of a member’s voting rights.  There are presently seven States under such voting restriction.

As of 30 September 2026, of the IMO’s 176 Member States and three Associate Members, 128 had made full payment of their 2026 assessment, 41 had made partial payment, and 10 had made no payment.

Contract of the Secretary General

Council decided that the Secretary General of the IMO, His Excellency Arsenio Dominguez, will have his mandate renewed when his current tenure expires on 1 January 2027. Subject to ratification by the IMO’s Assembly (in December 2027), he will continue to serve as Secretary General until 31 December 2031.

Further details of the meeting will be reported in our December edition of Seaways.