IMO on Maritime Security and Piracy

 IMO on Maritime Security and Piracy

The IMO has within its mandate to make trade and travel by sea as safe and secure as possibl.To manage and mitigate any threats with the potential to compromise maritime security the Organization develops suitable regulations and guidance through the following:

- Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) and with  input from the Organization's Facilitation  Committee (FAL)  and Legal Committee (LEG).

1. Maritime Safety Committee (MSC): Deals with all matters related to maritime safety and maritime security which fall within the scope of IMO, covering both passenger ships and all kinds of cargo ships.
2. Facilitation Committee (FAL):The Facilitation Committee (FAL) deals with matters related to the facilitation of international maritime traffic, including the arrival, stay and departure of ships, persons and cargo from ports.
3. Legal Committee (LEG): The Legal Committee (LEG) deals with any legal matters within IMO’s scope. This includes liability and compensation issues related to the operation of ships, including damage, pollution, passenger claims, and wreck removal.

 Piracy and armed robbery against ships

1. The threat posed by piracy and armed robbery against ships has been on the IMO's agenda since the early 1980s.
2. In the late 1990s and the early 2000s the focus was on the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
3. More recently, since 2005, IMO has focused on piracy off the coast of Somalia, in the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean.
4. currently implementing a strategy for enhancing maritime security in West and Central Africa.
5. Information regarding acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships is publicly available (subject to registration) in IMO's Piracy and Armed Robbery module within the Organization's Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS).
6. In addition, IMO provides assistance, to Member States seeking to develop their own national or regional measures to address the threat of piracy, armed robbery against ships and other illegal maritime activities, if and when requested. This was the case of the Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden (Djibouti Code of Conduct), agreed between countries in and around the western Indian Ocean and the case of the Code of Conduct concerning the repression of piracy, armed robbery against ships, and illicit maritime activity in west and central Africa  in the Gulf of Guinea region of West Africa.

IMO guidance and best management practices

1. IMO has adopted appropriate guidance aimed at addressing maritime security, as well as piracy and armed robbery against ships.
2. For piracy and armed robbery, this includes Guidance to Governments, ship owners and ship operators, shipmasters and crews on preventing and suppressing acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships; investigation of offences and the use of armed personnel on board ships.
3. Best Management Practices (BMP), which were developed by the shipping industry, outline the appropriate procedures to be employed when responding to acts or attempted acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships in specific regions.
4. The IMO supports the Best Management Practices, which have been spread publicly by the Organization.

 

 

Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL)

FAL CONVENTION 

Adoption: 9 April 1965

Entry into force: 5 March 1967

 

Objectives of FAL convention :

1: To prevent unnecessary delays in maritime traffic.

2: To aid co-operation between Governments.

3: To secure the highest practicable degree of uniformity in formalities and other procedures. 

In particular, the Convention reduces the number of declarations which can be required by public authorities.

General structure of FAL convention 

The FAL Convention consists of 16 articles and one annex.

Articles : The articles contain, inter alia, general provisions, the scope of the convention, and the notification and entry into force requirements.

Annex: The Annex of the FAL Convention contains the "Standards" and "Recommended Practices" on formalities, documentary requirements and procedures which should be applied on arrival, during their stay, and on departure to the ships, their crews, passengers, baggage and cargo.

The structure of the Annex is as follows:

1. Definitions and general provisions;
2. Arrival, stay and departure of the ship;
3. Arrival and departure of persons;
4. Stowaways; 
5. Arrival, stay and departure of cargo and other articles;
6. Public health and quarantine, including sanitary measures for animals and plants;
7. Miscellaneous provisions.

Appendix 1 IMO FAL Forms

Appendix 2 Form of stowaway details referred to in Recommended Practice 4.6.

List of IMO Conventions

 LIST OF IMO CONVENTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS

Key IMO Conventions

• International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended
• International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto and by the Protocol of 1997 (MARPOL)
• International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers ( STCW) as amended, including the 1995 and 2010 Manila Amendments

 

Other conventions relating to maritime safety and security and ship/port interface

• Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG), 1972
• Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL), 1965
• International Convention on Load Lines (LL), 1966
• International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR), 1979
• Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA), 1988, and Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Fixed Platforms located on the Continental Shelf (and the 2005 Protocols)
• International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC), 1972
• Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMSO C), 1976 
• The Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels (SFV), 1977,  superseded by the The 1993 Torremolinos Protocol; Cape Town Agreement of 2012 on the Implementation of the Provisions of the 1993 Protocol relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels 
• International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F), 1995
• Special Trade Passenger Ships Agreement (STP), 1971 and Protocol on Space Requirements for Special Trade Passenger Ships, 1973

 

Other conventions relating to prevention of marine pollution

• International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties (INTERVENTION), 1969
• Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (LC), 1972 (and the 1996 London Protocol)
• International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC), 1990
• Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances, 2000 (OPRC-HNS Protocol)
• International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships (AFS), 2001
• International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004
• The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009

 

Conventions covering liability and compensation

• International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC), 1969
• 1992 Protocol to the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage (FUND 1992)
• Convention relating to Civil Liability in the Field of Maritime Carriage of Nuclear Material (NUCLEAR), 1971
• Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea (PAL), 1974
• Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC), 1976
• International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea (HNS), 1996 (and its 2010 Protocol)
• International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001 
• Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007

 

Other subjects

• International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships (TONNAGE), 1969
• International Convention on Salvage (SALVAGE), 1989