Hosted by IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim, the IAPH Council met on 13 September for the first time in its history at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organisation in London. The meeting topped what was an active IAPH participation to London International Shipping Week,
one of the world’s largest maritime gatherings, which broke all records this year with more than 20,000 participants attending over 200 events.
Council members had an in-depth exchange of views with IMO officials on topics on the organisation’s agenda that are relevant for ports, including decarbonisation of shipping, automation, trade facilitation and the global deployment of the single window concept. Council members were informed that IMO has recently established an internal task force to coordinate its port-related work and is deploying several initiatives to strengthen dialogue with the ports industry. The IMO Secretary General emphasised that IAPH has a ‘home’ at IMO and is always welcome to use the organisation’s platform to engage with maritime authorities and the shipping industry.
President Santiago Garcia-Milà welcomed the offer and vouched to strengthen the engagement of IAPH in the work of IMO.
