International Maritime

Organization

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International Maritime
Organization

Established by a
Convention adopted in
Feb. 1948 as InterGovernmental Maritime
Consultative Organization
(IMCO) as an Agency of
UNO
Renamed as International
Maritime Organization
(IMO) in 1982

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Objectives of IMO
IMOs objectives can be
summarized by the phrase:
"Safe, secure and efficient
shipping on clean oceans
IMO is the United Nations' specialized
agency responsible for improving
maritime safety and preventing
pollution from ships.

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IMO's Main Task

IMO's main task has been to develop
& maintain a comprehensive
regulatory framework for shipping &
its remit today includes safety,
environmental concerns, legal
matters, technical co-operation,
maritime security and the efficiency of
shipping.

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Objectives of the Organization in the 21st

Century, are as follows:

Taking measures to implement a proactive

policy, so that trends which might adversely
affect the safety of ships and those on board
and/or the environment may be identified at
the earliest feasible stage & action taken to
avoid or mitigate such effects.
In implementing this directive, Formal Safety
Assessment should be used to the extent
possible in any rule-making process;
Shifting emphasis onto people;
Contd..

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.21st Century

Contd..

Ensuring the effective uniform

implementation of existing IMO standards &
regulations;
Developing a safety culture & environmental
conscience;
Avoiding excessive regulation;
Strengthening the Organization's technical
co-operation programmes;

Contd..
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.21st Century
Contd..

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Promoting efforts to prevent &

suppress unlawful acts which threaten
the security of ships, the safety of
those on board and the environment
(in particular, terrorism at sea, piracy &
armed robbery against ships, illicit drug
trafficking, illegal migration by sea and
stowaway cases).

Main Committees of IMO

Maritime Safety Committee (MSC)

Marine Environmental Protection

Committee (MEPC)

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Sub Committees

Bulk Liquids and Gases (BLG)

Carriage of Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes

and Containers (DSC)

Fire Protection (FP)

Radio-communications and Search and Rescue

(COMSAR)

Safety of Navigation (NAV)

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Sub Committees
Contd..

Ship Design and Equipment (DE)

Stability and Load Lines and Fishing Vessels

Safety (SLF)

Standards of Training and Watch keeping (STW)

Flag State Implementation (FSI)

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IMO conventions
The majority of conventions adopted
under the auspices of IMO fall into
three main categories:

The first group is concerned with maritime

safety;
The second with the prevention of marine
pollution; and
The third with liability and compensation,
especially in relation to damage caused by
pollution.

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IMO conventions

Contd..

There are also a number of other

conventions dealing with facilitation,
tonnage measurement, unlawful acts
against shipping and salvage, etc.

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Methods of Adopting New Requirements

Explicit Acceptance; and

Tacit Acceptance

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Methods of Adopting New Requirements

Explicit Acceptance

The normal procedure for adopting amendments to

an international treaty is by means of "explicit
acceptance." This means that the amendments enter
into force so many months after being accepted by
a specified number of Parties to the original
Convention. The number can be as high as twothirds and if the parent convention has been
accepted by a large number of countries it could
mean 80 or more of them having to ratify the
amendment before it becomes international law.
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Methods of Adopting New Requirements

Tacit Acceptance
The tacit acceptance procedure means that
amendments - which are nearly always adopted
unanimously - enter into force on a set date unless
they are specifically rejected by a specified
number of countries.

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Main Change in Concept of

Implementation of Requirements
From Flag State Control
to
Port State Control
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International Association of
Classification Societies

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Objective

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Why and how was it formed

What are its objectives
Recognition achieved by IACS
Organisation Structure of IACS
Types of membership
Membership criteria

Objective

To clarify the Role IACS plays in the

Shipping Industry together with its
Organisational Structure and its
relevance to IRS

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Background to formation of IACS

Classification Society Rules have been in a

constant state of evolution and
development, in some cases over 200 years.
These Rules have traditionally addressed
hull structures, essential engineering and
their control systems

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Background to formation of IACS

At the turn of the last century, when

various National Administrations first
contemplated statutory legislation
concerning the safety of life at sea,
classification rules for these fundamental
items of ship were already well established

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Background to formation of IACS

This helped the Administrations to

concentrate on safety matters, conditions of
load line, navigation, etc., rather than the
strength of the ship and machinery

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Background to formation of IACS

The first International Convention - Load

Line Convention, 1930 specified that a ship
was considered to meet the strength
requirements provided it met the
requirements of a Classification Society
recognised by the Administration

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Background to formation of IACS

Article 9 of the Load Line Convention,

1930, required that Classification Societies
recognised by the Administrations should
confer from time to time .with a view to
securing as much uniformity as possible in
the application of the standards of strength
on which freeboard is based

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Background to formation of IACS

It would not be wrong to say that IACS

can trace its origin to Article 9 of the Load
Line Convention, 1930
Shipping Industry also was looking
forward to one body with which it could
interact instead of various Classification
Societies
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Background to formation of IACS

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As per the requirements of Load Line

Convention, first conference of
Classification Societies was hosted by
RINA in 1939 and attended by ABS, BV,
DnV, GL, LRS and NKK
The next conference was hosted by BV in
1955, followed by LRS in 1959, ABS in
1965 and DnV in 1968

Background to formation of IACS

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In the meeting held in Oslo in 1968, it was

decided to form IACS
In 1957, a Working Group was established to
produce the First UR 1 regarding structural
steels
IACS was formed on 11 Sep. 1968 at Hamburg
with GL nominee being the First Chairman

Background to formation of IACS

Chairmanship of IACS is on rotation basis (now

every year and previously every two years)
This meant that the secretariat kept moving with
the Chairmanship. To overcome this problem,
permanent secretariat was set up at London on
1 July 1992

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Objectives of IACS

To promote improvement of standards of safety

at sea and prevention of pollution of the marine
environment
To consult & cooperate with relevant
international & maritime organizations
To maintain close cooperation with the worlds
maritime industries

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Working areas of IACS

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Ship Classification
Statutory Services
Research and Development
Technical Advisory Services

Recognition of IACS

IACS is the only non-governmental organization

having CONSULTATIVE status at IMO
Various Shipping Industry forums like
INTERTANKO, ICS, OCIMF, Underwriters,
etc. deal with classification societies through
IACS
Is member of various ISO working groups

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Recognition of IACS

Over 90 per cent of the world tonnage is

classed with IACS member Societies

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Organizational Structure

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Responsibilities of Council

Council is Supreme Policy Making body of the

IACS and only Member Societies are
represented

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Responsibilities of General Policy

Group (GPG)

GPG is responsible for developing and

implementing actions to give effect to the
Policies decided by the Council
Allocation and monitoring of work of Working
Parties
Only Member Societies are represented

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Responsibilities of Permanent
Secretary

Heads the Secretariat and co-ordinates all

activities in consultation with the Chairman
Maintenance of all records
Finances
Public Relations

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Responsibilities of Quality
Secretary
Responsible for conduct of audits towards
certification of societies for compliance with
IACS QSCS

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Responsibilities of Panels

Development of Unified Requirements,

Interpretations, Recommendations and Guidance
Notes

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Types of Membership of IACS

Members only
(there were associates member &
probationary associates member were also
earlier)

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Present Membership of IACS

11 members
(IRS got its membership on 22nd
June 2010.)

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Membership Criteria

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Number of Surveyors
Number of technical specialists
Professional Staff of 150 exclusive
surveyors and 100 technical specialists.

Membership Criteria

Number of ships classed

GT classed
Classed fleet of not less than 1500 oceangoing vessels (over 100 Gross Tonnage)
with an aggregate total of not less than 8
million Gross Tonnage.

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Flag Administrations &

Classification Societies

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Flag Administrations & Classification

Societies

Practically all the Maritime Administrations

have authorised Classification Societies to carry
out Surveys/Certification on their behalf subject
to some controls
The model agreements are given in IMO
Resolution A 739(18)

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Present RO Status in India of all Societies

GOI has recognised seven societies as RO so far:

ABS,

BV,
DNV,
LRS,
GL,
NKK, and
IRS.

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Thank You

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