Since 1948, Italy has been one of the 10 leading states in global maritime transport in terms of size of merchant fleet.
The General Assembly of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) met this morning, 29 November 2013, in London. The Assembly re-elected Italy, by acclamation, to Category A of the executive Council, reserved for the 10 States with the largest interest in providing international shipping services. Italy was elected along with Japan, China, South Korea, Greece, the United Kingdom, United States, Panama, the Russian Federation and Norway.
Italy has been a member of the Council, without interruption, since the IMO was established in 1948. Our successful re-election bears witness to the special consideration in which our international partners hold Italy’s contribution in the development of maritime navigation, security, the protection of the marine environment, personnel training and technical cooperation for developing countries.
Our country’s significant technical input to the IMO, not least through our work in the Technical Committees and our chairmanship of the Technical Cooperation Committee and the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Fund, was also recognised.
The General Assembly also showed great appreciation of Italy’s primary role and major commitment in combating maritime piracy.
