International Maritime OrganizationInternational Maritime
Organization
Established by a Convention adopted in Feb. 1948 as
Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) as an
Agency of UNO
Renamed as International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1982
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"Safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans“
IMO is the United Nations' specialized agency responsible for
improving maritime safety and preventing pollution from
ships.
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IMO's main task has been to develop & maintain a comprehensive
regulatory framework for shipping & its remit today includes
safety, environmental concerns, legal matters, technical
co-operation, maritime security and the efficiency of
shipping.
IMO's Main Task
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Taking measures to implement a proactive policy, so that trends
which might adversely affect the safety of ships and those on board
and/or the environment may be identified at the earliest feasible
stage & action taken to avoid or mitigate such effects.
In implementing this directive, Formal Safety Assessment
should be used to the extent possible in any rule-making
process;
Shifting emphasis onto people;
Contd…..
Objectives of the Organization in the 21st Century, are as
follows:
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Contd…..
Developing a safety culture & environmental conscience;
Avoiding excessive regulation;
Contd…..
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Contd…..
Promoting efforts to prevent & suppress unlawful acts which
threaten the security of ships, the safety of those on board and
the environment (in particular, terrorism at sea, piracy &
armed robbery against ships, illicit drug trafficking, illegal
migration by sea and stowaway cases).
……….21st Century
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Carriage of Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers
(DSC)
Fire Protection (FP)
Safety of Navigation (NAV)
Stability and Load Lines and Fishing Vessels Safety (SLF)
Standards of Training and Watch keeping (STW)
Flag State Implementation (FSI)
IMO conventions
The majority of conventions adopted under the auspices of IMO fall
into three main categories:
The first group is concerned with maritime safety;
The second with the prevention of marine pollution; and
The third with liability and compensation, especially in relation
to damage caused by pollution.
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Contd…..
There are also a number of other conventions dealing with
facilitation, tonnage measurement, unlawful acts against shipping
and salvage, etc.
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Explicit Acceptance; and
Explicit Acceptance
The normal procedure for adopting amendments to an international
treaty is by means of "explicit acceptance." This means that the
amendments enter into force so many months after being accepted by
a specified number of Parties to the original Convention. The
number can be as high as two-thirds and if the parent convention
has been accepted by a large number of countries it could mean 80
or more of them having to ratify the amendment before it becomes
international law.
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Tacit Acceptance
The tacit acceptance procedure means that amendments - which are
nearly always adopted unanimously - enter into force on a set date
unless they are specifically rejected by a specified number of
countries.
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From Flag State Control
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What are its objectives
Recognition achieved by IACS
Organisation Structure of IACS
Objective
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Objective
To clarify the Role IACS plays in the Shipping Industry together
with its Organisational Structure and its relevance to IRS
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Background to formation of IACS
Classification Society Rules have been in a constant state of
evolution and development, in some cases over 200 years.
These Rules have traditionally addressed hull structures, essential
engineering and their control systems
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Background to formation of IACS
At the turn of the last century, when various National
Administrations first contemplated statutory legislation concerning
the safety of life at sea, classification rules for these
fundamental items of ship were already well established
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This helped the Administrations to concentrate on safety matters,
conditions of load line, navigation, etc., rather than the strength
of the ship and machinery
Background to formation of IACS
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The first International Convention - Load Line Convention, 1930
specified that a ship was considered to meet the strength
requirements provided it met the requirements of a Classification
Society recognised by the Administration
Background to formation of IACS
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Article 9 of the Load Line Convention, 1930, required that
Classification Societies recognised by the Administrations “should
confer from time to time ….with a view to securing as much
uniformity as possible in the application of the standards of
strength on which freeboard is based……”
Background to formation of IACS
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It would not be wrong to say that IACS can trace its origin to
Article 9 of the Load Line Convention, 1930
Shipping Industry also was looking forward to one body with which
it could interact instead of various Classification Societies
Background to formation of IACS
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As per the requirements of Load Line Convention, first conference
of Classification Societies was hosted by RINA in 1939 and attended
by ABS, BV, DnV, GL, LRS and NKK
The next conference was hosted by BV in 1955, followed by LRS in
1959, ABS in 1965 and DnV in 1968
Background to formation of IACS
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In the meeting held in Oslo in 1968, it was decided to form
IACS
In 1957, a Working Group was established to produce the First UR 1
regarding structural steels
IACS was formed on 11 Sep. 1968 at Hamburg with GL nominee being
the First Chairman
Background to formation of IACS
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Chairmanship of IACS is on rotation basis (now every year and
previously every two years)
This meant that the secretariat kept moving with the Chairmanship.
To overcome this problem, permanent secretariat was set up at
London on 1 July 1992
Background to formation of IACS
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Objectives of IACS
To promote improvement of standards of safety at sea and prevention
of pollution of the marine environment
To consult & cooperate with relevant international &
maritime organizations
To maintain close cooperation with the world’s maritime
industries
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Recognition of IACS
IACS is the only non-governmental organization having CONSULTATIVE
status at IMO
Various Shipping Industry forums like INTERTANKO, ICS, OCIMF,
Underwriters, etc. deal with classification societies through
IACS
Is member of various ISO working groups
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Over 90 per cent of the world tonnage is classed with IACS member
Societies
Recognition of IACS
Responsibilities of Council
Council is Supreme Policy Making body of the IACS and only Member
Societies are represented
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Responsibilities of General Policy Group (GPG)
GPG is responsible for developing and implementing actions to give
effect to the Policies decided by the Council
Allocation and monitoring of work of Working Parties
Only Member Societies are represented
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Responsibilities of Permanent Secretary
Heads the Secretariat and co-ordinates all activities in
consultation with the Chairman
Maintenance of all records
Responsible for conduct of audits towards certification of
societies for compliance with IACS QSCS
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Members only
(there were associates member & probationary associates member
were also earlier)
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GT classed
?
Practically all the Maritime Administrations have authorised
Classification Societies to carry out Surveys/Certification on
their behalf subject to some controls
The model agreements are given in IMO Resolution A 739(18)
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GOI has recognised seven societies as RO so far:
ABS,
BV,
DNV,
LRS,
GL,