Greenpeace activists protest in front of two UK ships bound for shipbreaking in India. The export of ships containing toxic chemicals to other countries is illegal under the Basel Convention.
According to the IMO, from the very beginning, the improvement
of maritime safety and the prevention of marine pollution have been
its most important objectives summarised by the phrase: "Safe,
secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans".
In 1960, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at
Sea (SOLAS), was agreed and came into force in 1965. It has been
modified over the last 30 years. But there was growing concern at
the increasing amounts of oil being transported by sea, and the
size of the oil tankers transporting it. The perception of danger
was justified. In 1967, the world's first major oil spill occurred
when the Torrey Canyon ran aground, spilling over 100,000 tonnes of
oil off the Isles of Scilly, south-west of the UK.
Following this disaster, the IMO introduced a series of measures
designed to prevent tanker accidents and to minimise their
consequences. The most important of all these measures was the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL 73/78).
The IMO was also given the task of establishing a system for
providing compensation to those who had suffered financially as a
result of pollution. And a number of legal conventions were
established concerning liability and compensation. However, while
tanker spills occur with less frequency than in the years following
the Torrey Canyon, they remain a major concern. Further measures
urgently need to be taken.
Other measures introduced by IMO have concerned the safety of
containers, bulk cargoes, liquefied gas tankers and other ship
types. Special attention has been paid to crew standards, including
the adoption of a special convention on standards of training,
certification and watch keeping.
Among the most common accidents at sea are collisions. In 1972
IMO adopted the Convention on International Regulations for
Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG). The convention came into
force in 1977.
In 1971 IMO, in association with the International Atomic Energy
Agency and the European Nuclear Agency of the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development, convened a conference which
adopted a convention to regulate civil liability in respect of
damage arising from the maritime carriage of nuclear
substances.
Structure
The Organisation is based at 4 Albert Embankment, London, and is
the only United Nations specialised agency to have its headquarters
in the United Kingdom. Its governing body is the Assembly, which
meets once every two years. It currently consists of 163 Member
States and two Associate Members. Between sessions of the Assembly
a Council, consisting of 40 Member Governments elected by the
Assembly, acts as IMO's governing body.
Most of the IMO's work is carried out in a number of committees
and sub-committees. The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) is the most
senior of these.
The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) established
in 1973 is responsible for co-ordinating the Organization's
activities in the prevention and control of pollution of the marine
environment from ships.
Budget
Contributions to the IMO budget come from each member state
depending primarily on the tonnage of its merchant fleet. In 2003
the top ten contributors were: Panama (19.12% of total budget);
Liberia (7.89%); Bahamas (5.19%); Greece (4.44%); Malta (4.18%);
Japan (4.11%); United Kingdom (3.8%); United States (3.6%); Cyprus
(3.52%); Norway (3.5%)
Greenpeace in the IMO
Greenpeace gained observer status in the IMO in 1991. Since that
time as well as attending the meetings Greenpeace has made over 40
submissions on a range of issues. One of the earliest issues which
we tackled was the transport by sea of irradiated nuclear fuel,
plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes - the infamous
plutonium shipments. Our concern was to bring to the attention of
the IMO the threats posed by nuclear shipments to the ocean
environment and human life.
Following the Rio 1992 Earth Summit, Greenpeace worked to get
the IMO to adopt the precautionary approach to marine pollution.
During the early 1990s, this gradually became the cornerstone
principle of many environment regulations. In 1995, Greenpeace
presented the IMO with guidelines on how the organisation could
implement the precautionary approach in their work.
In 1997, Greenpeace made submissions to the debate on increasing
the safety of tankers, in particular issues such as the double-hull
design and the standards of crew training. As well as trying to
ensure that the IMO's own Marpol convention was enforced and
applicable not just to ships but to floating offshore production
units, Greenpeace was also instrumental in ensuring that the 2001
Antifouling Treaty was established. This agreement aims to phase
out the use of toxic tributyltin (tbt) paints. Although the treaty
is not yet in force, since January 2003 very little tbt has been
available on the market.
Greenpeace has brought issues directly to the attention of the
IMO. A case in point is shipbreaking: a source of environmental and
human tragedy primarily in the developing world. Currently
end-of-life ships are often taken to beaches in India, Bangladesh
and Pakistan where they are scrapped. However, the ships are full
of toxic substances such as asbestos, PCBs, fuel oil, etc. The
yards cannot deal with these materials and the workers earn a
pittance. Many die in appalling accidents -- on average a worker a
day in India alone. Greenpeace has been campaigning to get the IMO
to adopt mandatory regulations which make ship-owners clean their
ships prior to being sent to such yards. At the moment, this form
of getting rid of ships is essentially dumping hazardous waste in
poor countries.
The involvement of Greenpeace in the IMO has enabled the voice
of the environment and people to be heard. We ensure that broader
considerations than just the vested interests of the shipping
industry are heard.
The Future
Despite the fact that the IMO has brought in a number of
conventions as well as recommendations, guidelines and codes, the
oceans, coastlines, and livelihoods are still threatened from the
worst aspects of the shipping industry. The IMO acknowledges that,
because of economic factors, the average age of the world's ships
has risen steadily, and statistics show that old ships have more
accidents than young ones. The fleets of the traditional maritime
countries - which tend to have good safety records - have declined,
while many of the flags that are growing most rapidly have
relatively poor records. And, for the future, according to the IMO
- this is one area where the organisation cannot afford to be
complacent.
Greenpeace will continue to fight for the environment and the
people who depend on it, bringing these issues directly to the
regulatory bodies who are responsible.