ICS Wants More Nations to Ratify IMO Conventions

As shipping’s global regulatory structure faces increasing pressure from regional interests, the International Chamber of Shipping and the Comite Maritime International (CMI) have announced a joint campaign to encourage national governments to ratify more IMO treaties.

ICS and CMI have been concerned for a long time that many governments are not ratifying important conventions. This year, they have updated their joint campaign to address the issue, and are encouraging shipowners to educate their governments about the importance of ratification. The effort focuses on a handful of conventions that the two organizations believe are the most important:

– The IMO Nairobi Convention on the Removal of Wrecks (Nairobi WRC)
– The IMO 2010 Protocol to the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea Convention (HNS Convention)
– The IMO Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (Hong Kong Convention)
– The United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (Beijing Convention)

Of these, the HNS Convention is the only one that has not yet received enough signatories to enter into force, and it has been awaiting full ratification since 2010. 

ICS has long advocated for a single global rulebook for shipping, which is by definition a global industry. Merchant ships cross national boundaries every day, and the alternative to a robust international framework “would be a plethora of conflicting national or regional rules that would seriously compromise the efficiency of world trade,” according to ICS.

Ratifying conventions adds weight to their validity, brings national enforcement mechanisms to bear, and can add protection for signatory nations. The Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention requires shipowners to carry insurance for the increasingly high costs of wreck removal, and allows coastal states to pursue insurers directly to recover expenses. Non-signatory coastal states could miss out on