Navigare 2 - 2018

EDITORIAL
ENGLISH TRANSLATION FROM PAGE 4
70 years for safe shipping
Shipping is international by nature. Throughout
history, use of the oceans as trading
routes has given people and nations the
opportunity to trade goods and thereby
secure prosperity and development. In spite
of cars, the railway and airplanes, ships are
still responsible for 90 percent of the world’s
transportation of goods.
It soon became clear that there was a
need for international rules and regulations
to secure the growth of the industry. From
the mid 1800s and onwards, several
attempts were made to establish international
rules, but without success. After the
shipwreck of Titanic, another attempt was
made, and the first great international
agreement or convention on safety at sea,
SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), was
successfully implemented. Even though this
convention in many ways still is the
constitution of international shipping, it was
only when IMO, the UN’s specialised
agency on maritime issues, started its work,
that systematic work began to regulate
shipping internationally.
It is now 70 years since the UN’s specialised
agency on maritime issues, IMO, was
established. After a rather slow start, IMO
has become increasingly more important for
the international maritime industry. Today,
IMO is crucial and without comparison, the
most important forum for international
shipping. The main objective of IMO has
been to implement international rules and
regulations to increase safety at sea, to make
it safer for those who work onboard ships,
and to reduce the number of shipping accidents.
In recent years, IMO has become
increasingly more engaged in environmental
issues, and the reduction of the negative
affect the maritime industry has on the
marine environment has topped the agenda.
IMO has also been crucial in the work to
ensure equal conditions for competition.
Through common rules and regulations, as
Olav Akselsen
Director General of Shipping
and Navigation
well as the same enforcement thereof, the
standard of ships has increased. It has also
prevented individual owners or countries
from being able to cut corners when it
comes to the ships’ standard.
IMO consists of 173 member states. In
addition, all the most important organizations
within shipping are represented when
new rules and regulations are developed or
old ones amended. IMO has passed more
than 150 so-called instruments, regulating
everything from the equipment required on
board the vessel to rules concerning navigation
or education and resting time.
The processes in IMO can take time and
sometimes be frustrating to witness. The
work on new regulations on ballast water
management is an example of a process that
has taken too long. At the same time, IMO
is one of the most active and effective agencies
in the UN. Also, resolutions made in
IMO have a direct impact on the maritime
industry and it is therefore important that a
resolution is thoroughly examined before it
is implemented.
In Norway and Norwegian shipping,
IMO is very important. Ships registered in
Norway operate all over the world and
many never visit Norwegian waters or
Norwegian harbours. National regulations
are therefore not suitable to regulate
Norwegian shipping. National special
regulations may be an hindrance in the
competition with others and cause a change
of flag. International regulations on the
other hand, ensure equal conditions for
competition.
Since the establishment of IMO, we have
had a tremendous decrease in the number
of shipping accidents. Naturally, there are a
number of reasons for this decrease. New
and better technology is important, but
diligent work through IMO and resolutions
to improve training, technical minimum
standards, and new regulations have definitely
also had a tremendously positive effect.
IMO is well on its way to succeed in its
most important assignment; making
shipping more safe.
58 | Navigare 2 - 2018