IMO tells shipping firms to implement own business management practices

Source: MB

MANILA, Philippines — The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has urged shipping companies to rigorously apply the IMO guidance and industry-developed best management practices in their entirety to fight against piracy when venturing into the western Indian Ocean region.

During the recent 34th celebration of the World Maritime Day, IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos stressed that no ship is invulnerable particularly those with relatively low freeboards and slow steaming speeds.

Governments need to back up their oft-stated concern over the situation by deploying military and other resources commensurate, in numbers and technology, with the scale of the problem and with a realistic chance of dealing with it effectively,” Mitropoulos said.

“While IMO has positioned itself in the epicenter of the concerted efforts being made, it cannot alone supply an instant solution to the issue particularly since, although piracy manifests itself at sea, the roots of the problem are to be found ashore."

"Nevertheless, through our action plan and other initiatives, and in collaboration with other interested parties, equally determined and committed as ourselves, we feel confident we will be able to make a difference where the problem is being most acutely felt “ at sea,” he added.

Mitropoulos noted that some success in thwarting pirate attacks can already be claimed, as can be seen from the falling percentage of attacks that prove successful.

“Nevertheless, as the statistics so bleakly indicate, piracy and armed robbery against ships remain real and ever-present dangers to those who use the seas for peaceful purposes. So long as pirates continue harassing shipping, hijacking ships and seafarers, we are neither proud of, nor content with, the results achieved so far,” he said.

Concluding his World Maritime Day message, Mitropoulos said: “More needs to be done, including the capture, prosecution and punishment of all those involved in piracy; the tracing of ransom money; and the confiscation of proceeds of crime derived from hijacked ships, if the ultimate goal of consigning piracy to the realms of history is to be achieved."

"We hope that our choice of the theme for 2011 will provide an appropriate rallying point around which all those who can make a difference can focus their efforts.

“In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with those seafarers, who, at present, are in the hands of pirates. May they all be released unharmed and returned to their families soon," Mitropoulos added. (EHL)