The International Chamber of
Shipping (ICS) – whose member national shipowner associations represent over
80% of the world merchant fleet, and the Comité Maritime International (CMI) –
the international association for maritime lawyers, have released an updated
brochure to promote the importance of governments ratifying international
maritime conventions, especially those adopted by the UN IMO.
The aim of the brochure
‘Promoting Maritime Treaty Ratification’ is to encourage more widespread
ratification of some key maritime instruments that would benefit from a greater
level of global acceptance. This includes a number of important instruments
which have not yet received adequate ratifications from governments to enter
into force globally.
The new campaign
particularly focuses on three key IMO instruments: the Hong Kong Convention on
ship recycling; the 2003 Protocol to the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund
Conventions concerning oil spill compensation; and the 2010 Protocol to the HNS
(liability) Convention.
“While the slow pace of
ratification of these crucial IMO instruments remains disappointing, there is
now some cause for optimism.” explained ICS Chairman, Esben Poulsson.
“In particular, the Hong
Kong Convention on ship recycling has been ratified by the world’s largest flag
State, Panama, having previously been ratified by Belgium, Denmark, France and
Norway. Turkey, a major ship recycling nation, is also expected to ratify soon.
But other IMO Member States now need to build on this momentum or else be faced
with the confusion likely to be caused by unilateral or regional regulation.”
CMI Secretary General,
Rosalie Balkin, added “We are pleased to again be co-operating with ICS on this
important campaign, which we hope will enhance the profile of some important
IMO instruments that are sometimes overlooked.”
The new brochure, which can
downloaded from the ICS and CMI websites, also highlights a number of other
conventions that require wider ratification, including the IMO Ballast Water
Management Convention, which entered into force in September, and the ILO
(Revised) Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention.
The brochure also promotes
several other instruments that address international liabilities and compulsory
insurance cover for ships.
ICS and the CMI continue to
emphasise that shipping is an inherently global industry reliant on global
regulatory frameworks to operate efficiently. The alternative would be a
plethora of regional or unilateral regulations, which would lead to chaos
within the international shipping industry while hindering the smooth flow of
global trade.
Source:
hellenic
shipping news. 14 November 2017
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