August 2015: The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has worked to advance the health of the world’s oceans and seas through workshops focused on regulating marine pollution and identifying Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs) that need special protection given ecological, scientific or socio-economic circumstances, but that may be vulnerable to damage from international maritime activities.

Participants discussed the designation of marine areas as PSSAs during a workshop hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and IMO in Nadi, Fiji from 29-31 July. The workshop focused on the protection of marine areas from the impacts of international shipping.

IMO staff also participated in a workshop on the regulation of dumping of waste at sea under the ‘Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972′ (the London Convention). The workshop aimed to encourage cooperation among Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Viet Nam and Thailand on promoting the regulation and control of marine pollution, as well as on preventing marine pollution from the dumping of waste and other matter. Thailand’s Marine Department hosted the workshop, which was funded by the Republic of Korea and convened from 10-11 August in Bangkok, Thailand.

Additional efforts by IMO in July included support to the Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre in Ghana to assist in efforts to address illegal fishing and piracy; plans to support Africa’s Decade of the Seas and Oceans through technical cooperation focused on Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2010 AIM-Strategy); and an IMO seminar on maritime security. [IMO News] [IMO Website on PSSAs] [London Protocol] [SPREP Press Release]