NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATION ( IMO) INSTRUMENTS (III), 2017

Posted On: 24-06-2024

Mr. Aji Vasudevan, Deputy Chief Ship Surveyor and Senior Deputy Director General of Directorate General of Shipping, Govt of India, has been elected as the chairman of the subcommittee for the Implementation of International Maritime Organisation ( IMO) Instruments (III), 2017. Mr. Aji is an alumnus of the Dept of Ship Technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology and World Maritime University. After completing his graduation in Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding in 1998, he worked in Goa Shipyard Limited till 2000. He joined the Directorate General of Shipping, the Flag State Authority of Govt of India in 2000.

When a Government accepts an IMO Nike Shoes Convention it agrees to make it part of its own national law and to enforce it. It was observed that some countries lack the expertise, experience, and resources necessary to do this properly. There is a demonstrated statistical evidence, when analyzing the casualty rates or the port State control detentions of the ships in relation with their respective flags, that a highly significant difference exists between the performances of States with a substantial and organized maritime safety Administration, manned with experienced ship surveyors, and other ones that are not in a position to properly fulfill the different tasks and responsibilities of the flag State in relation with safety certification of ships.

In order to address this issue, IMO in 1992 set up a special Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation (FSI) to improve the performance of Governments. The FSI Sub-Committee was renamed the Sub-Committee on Implementation of IMO Instruments (III) in 2013. The major responsibility of the III is the effective and consistent global implementation and enforcement of IMO instruments concerning maritime safety and security and the protection of the marine environment, related to the regulations promulgated by Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Environment Protection Committee. The development of any necessary amendments to relevant conventions and other mandatory and non-mandatory instruments, as well as the preparation of new mandatory and non-mandatory instruments, guidelines and recommendations also falls under the purview of the subcommittee for III. The committee considers matters related to the following subjects:-

• Review the rights and obligations of States emanating from the IMO treaty instruments;



• Assess, monitor and review the current level of implementation of IMO instruments by States in their capacity as flag, port and coastal States, with a view to identifying areas where States may have difficulties in fully implementing them;



• Identify the reasons for the difficulties in implementing provisions of relevant IMO instruments, taking into account any relevant Port State Control (PSC) data, while paying particular attention to difficulties face by developing counties;



• Consider proposals to assist States in implementing and complying with IMO instruments by the development of appropriate instruments, guidelines and recommendations;



• Analyze investigation reports into marine casualties and incidents and maintain an efficient and comprehensive knowledge-based mechanism to support the identification of trends and feed into the IMO rule-making process;



• Review IMO standards on maritime safety and security orologi replica and the protection of the marine environment, to maintain an updated and harmonized guidance on survey and certification related requirements;
  


• Promote global harmonization of PSC activities