6 The IMO: Adoption of Counter-piracy Measures to Promote Global Ocean Governance

Author(s):  
Hesse Hartmut Guenther

This chapter examines the measures taken by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to address the issue of piracy and armed robbery, which present a serious threat to the safety of navigation and consequently to the safety of life at sea and to the marine environment. It describes a number of projects which are being implemented in and the guidance material developed by the IMO for the various affected regions. As this chapter shows, piracy and armed robbery are regional phenomena and consequently different approaches are required for different regions. Moreover, where acts of armed robbery take place in the internal waters or territorial seas of a State, this is not an issue for the international community. Rather, it is up to that State to take action or to invite action from the international community if it wishes to do so.

Author(s):  
Chircop Aldo

This chapter surveys the extensive work undertaken by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to protect the marine environment. It argues that marine environment issues cannot be the exclusive responsibility of one international organization, even one as proactive as the IMO. The chapter offers a variety of suggestions that might be looked into to improve the effectiveness of IMO measures. It also notes that flag states do not always live up to their responsibilities under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with regard to the exercise of effective control and jurisdiction over ships flying their flags. In this light, Port State Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reports frequently observe substantial deficiencies on a number of vessels, whether flagged under open registries or not. It remains to be seen whether the recently adopted IMO compulsory audit scheme may cast further light on these issues.


Author(s):  
Delgado Ismael Cobos

This chapter discusses the role of classification societies in their capacity as recognized organizations (ROs) acting on behalf of maritime administrations to ensure that ships, old and new, meet their obligations under International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations and standards. Another aspect of the role of classification societies is to ensure that ships are designed, constructed, and maintained in compliance with the standards set by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). The chapter helps to that the IMO acting alone cannot provide all the answers to all of the issues regarding ocean governance. After all, the Organization relies heavily on the active participation not only of its Member States but also on those intergovernmental international organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental international organizations (NGOs) that are affiliated to it. In many situations, they have the specialized expertise and experience required to ensure that whatever regulations are adopted by the IMO are practicable.


Author(s):  
Purnell Karen

This chapter evaluates the effectiveness of measures taken by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to promote global governance of the ocean. These views are based upon the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation’s (ITOPF) experience of having attended major oil and HNS incidents worldwide. The evaluation also takes into account the educational and outreach activities that the ITOPF has undertaken in conjunction with the IMO and several of the partners with whom the IMO works. The approach taken has been to consider, primarily, the measures in terms of the conventions that are in place governing Preparedness and Compensation and to highlight where measures appear to be working effectively as well as where there are obstacles. The ITOPF’s role does not extend to measures taken to prevent incidents occurring. Other conventions are mentioned briefly insofar as they have relevance to the work of the ITOPF.


Author(s):  
de Boer Jan Engel

This chapter concentrates on the measures taken by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to prevent acts of terrorism at sea. It looks in some detail at the legal jurisdictional framework put in place by the development and adoption of the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA) and its 2005 Protocols. The chapter also discusses the practical measures adopted by IMO through the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code aimed at improving security in ports and on ships. Finally, this chapter concludes that these measures, which are constantly under review by the relevant committees within the IMO, have put in place the necessary building blocks. What is now required is the political will on the part of IMO Member States by passing the necessary legislation or other administrative measures to implement satisfactorily these measures.


Author(s):  
Barchue Lawrence, Sr

This chapter explains the origins, aims and structure of the compulsory IMO Audit Scheme recently adopted in the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Scheme was originally trialled in the IMO on a voluntary basis. The results of the trial, in which several IMO Member States offered themselves for audit, was so positive that any remaining opposition to compulsory audit was soon overcome. The aim of the audits is not to ‘name and shame’ countries which are found to be wanting in terms of compliance with their IMO treaty obligations. Rather, it was conceived as a tool that could assist Member States in identifying any shortcomings in their legal and administrative regimes and in suggesting what further actions need to be taken to overcome these deficiencies.


Author(s):  
Blanco-Bazan Agustin

This chapter explains the main features of the interface between the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations. Since its adoption the UNCLOS, and in particular its jurisdictional principles, has remained a reference point for much of the IMO’s work. The chapter suggests that greater use could be made by flag and coastal administrations of the powers afforded them under UNCLOS and IMO treaties to ensure that the high seas do not become a ‘dustbin’ for the spill of polluting substances from ships. Flag states have the power to investigate incidents on the high seas involving its ships. Likewise, coastal states have the power in certain defined circumstances to intercept foreign vessels in their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and territorial seas, as well as to undertake physical inspection and to detain such vessels.


1975 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 805-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Brown Weiss

In the past few decades we have been improving our understanding of the weather system and exploring ways to modify it. Over sixty countries have experimented with modifying the weather. The new technology of weather and climate modification will raise important political problems which will demand new responses from the international community. Whether states will be able to establish the cooperative measures necessary to develop and manage new technology depends upon whether there are sufficient incentives to do so. This article analyzes the historical patterns of international cooperation in meteorology, and then plots against several time horizons projected developments and capabilities in weather modification technology and the potential problems emerging from using the technology. It derives a tentative picture of the responsibilities demanded, compares the likely responses with those needed, and assesses whether they will be adequate for the problems projected.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Angel Damayanti

The importance of the sea in the current era of globalization has called all countries for managing their interests at sea as well as their common concern collectively, cooperatively and inclusively. By looking at the notions of the sea as a medium of connectivity and sea as a resource coupled with its vulnerability particularly in Indian and Pacific Oceans, Indo-Pacific maritime cooperation towards global ocean governance accordingly are vital to the international stability, a successful of sea-based trading system and sustainability use of the oceans. Therefore this article discusses the rationale of Indo-Pacific Maritime Cooperation, which made possible by the common concern of countries that locate between the Indian and West Pacific ocean maritime, the vulnerabilities of the region and the existence of various ASEAN’s mechanisms on Maritime Security Cooperation as well as regional regime and international law. Nevertheless, ASEAN needs to note some issues relating to its consolidation as well as the internal challenges in the realization of global maritime governance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Chee Yung

Even though Islam is the official religion of Brunei Darussalam, more efforts are still needed to bolster functionality and relevance of Islam to the country, and implement an Islamic system of governance. This paper sets out to devise strategies in order to do so, to be implemented by three main stakeholders: Government civil service, the public and the international community. Five specific strategies are devised: formulate a single common understanding of Islamic governance; ensure commitment from top management; train and develop competence; engage the public; and engage the international community. The first three strategies relate to the Government, the fourth to the public, and the fifth to the international community. And at the core, of course, is Tauḥīd, or strong Faith, which would act as a guide to help individuals, the main agents of change, make appropriate decisions in accordance to the teachings of Islam, implement the five strategies to strengthen functional relevance of Islam in Brunei, and be able to work towards achieving the Maqāṣid of the Sharī’ah.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marine Bretagnon ◽  
Séverine Alvain ◽  
Astrid Bracher ◽  
Philippe Garnesson ◽  
Svetlana losa ◽  
...  

<p>Copernicus marine environment monitoring service (CMEMS) gives users access to a wide range of ocean descriptors. Both physics and biogeochemistry of the marine environment can be studied with complementary source of data, such as in situ data, modelling output and satellite observations at global scale and/or for European marginal seas. Among the ocean descriptors supplied as part of CMEMS, phytoplankton functional types (PFTs) describe the phytoplanktonic composition at global level or over European marginal seas. Studied phytoplankton assemblage is particularly important as it is the basis of the marine food-web. Composition of the first trophic level is a valuable indicator to infer the structure of the ecosystem and its health. Over the last decades, ocean colour remote sensing has been used to estimate the phytoplanktonic composition. The algorithms developed to estimate PFTs composition based on ocean colour observation can be classified in three categories: the spectral approaches, the abundance-based approaches (derived from the chlorophyll concentration) and the ecological approaches. The three approaches can lead to differences or, conversely, to similar patterns. Difference and similarity in PFTs estimation from remote sensing is a useful information for data assimilation or model simulation, as it provides indications on the uncertainties/variability associated to the PFT estimates. Indeed, PFT estimates from satellite observations are increasingly assimilated into ecological models to improve biogeochemical simulations, what highlights the importance to get an index or at least information describing the validity range of such PFTs estimates.</p><p>In this study, four algorithms (two abundance-based, and two spectral approaches) are compared. The aim of this study is to compare the related PFT products spatially and temporally, and to study the agreement of their derived PFT phenology. This study proposes also to compare PFT algorithms developed for the global ocean with those developed for specific regions in order to assess the potential strength and weakness of the different approaches. Once similarities and discrepancies between the different approaches are assessed, this information could be used by model to give an interval of confidence in model simulation.</p>


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