12 September 2012: During his keynote address to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Conference on 12 September 2012, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General, Koji Sekimizu, reviewed plans to develop Sustainable Maritime Development Goals and discussed the role of the shipping industry.

Regarding IMO’s contribution to sustainable maritime development, Sekimizu stated that, “since the United Nations is preparing a set of sustainable development goals as an outcome of the Rio+20 Conference, I believe IMO should prepare its own goals for the maritime industries, as our contribution to the effort of the United Nations.” He indicated that he has established an in-house mechanism within the IMO Secretariat to make progress in this initiative. He said maritime sustainable development goals should encompass, among other things: energy efficiency; global standards to be developed and maintained by IMO; maritime infrastructure development; new technology and innovation; and safety, culture, and environmental stewardship.

Sekimizu also outlined opportunities for the shipping industry to improve the energy efficiency of international shipping by implementing the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for all ships. On problems associated with ballast water, he urged shipowners to encourage flag Administrations to ratify the Ballast Water Convention.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is composed of national shipowners’ associations and represents the views of the shipping industry to IMO. [Keynote Speech]