>Press Releases Home > Publications and press releases > Press Releases HK celebrates World Maritime Day 1998 The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) - a specialised agency of the United Nations dealing with maritime affairs - is celebrating together with its 155 Member States the World Maritime Day 1998 starting from today (Monday) to Friday (September 25). The theme for this year's occasion is "IMO's 50th Anniversary - Shipping and the Ocean". The IMO, of which Hong Kong is an associate member in its own right, was created in 1948 but it took another decade for the IMO Convention to receive enough acceptances to enter into force. The annual World Maritime Day was first held on March 17, 1978 to mark the date of entry into force in 1958 of the IMO Convention. In a message marking the World Maritime Day 1998, IMO's Secretary-General Mr William O'Neil said today that IMO's aim was "safer shipping and cleaner oceans". It would remain so in the future because nowadays, shipping was still considered as the most important, the safest, the cheapest and the most environmentally friendly way of moving goods over long distances, he said. "Without the shipping industry, the world's economy would grind to a halt," Mr O'Neil said. "IMO is proud to have been able to play a part in the industry's success over the last half century and we look forward to continuing our ceaseless efforts to improve maritime safety and to protect the marine environment to the benefit of the world maritime community," he added. As the year 1998 has been declared the International Year of the Ocean by the United Nations, Mr O'Neil said that that would be an additional reason to look at the shipping industry, its past, present and future. Before 1948, Mr O'Neil described shipping as a very conservative industry and for centuries, it changed very slowly despite its historical importance. He said that ever since those first voyages many thousands of years ago, the oceans had been regarded as dangerous and that for decades, the shipping industry talked about the need for improved safety at sea. But nothing was done until the creation of the United Nation which gave the necessary impetus to Governments and shipping industry to set up an agency with special responsibilities for improving the safety of world shipping, Mr O'Neil said. The Secretary-General said that changes in the shipping industry in the last 50 years had been striking and revolutionary. For examples, he said, nowadays sea lanes were no longer dominated by traditional maritime powers, seafarers were more likely to come from Asia than Europe, trading patterns had changed, tankers and bulk carriers had grown to sizes that were unimaginable before, cargoes were moved by containers instead of carried in sacks and on pallets, the realisation of the need to tackle marine pollution and the drastic improvements in communications at sea. "These and other changes that have occurred have generally been for the benefit of the shipping industry, seafarers, cargo owners and passengers alike," Mr O'Neil said. "Few people would disagree that IMO was created in the nick of time and has taken a lead role in all these developments," he added. The Secretary-General continued to attribute IMO's ability to meet all the challenges to its philosophy of operating on the basis of consensus, which sought the agreement of all its members, rather than a bare majority, to effect change. He pointed out that without the existence of IMO as a permanent forum to air openly all matters of concern and to find solutions, the consensus on the need for high, universal standards would have been impossible to achieve and the raw facts of the competitive world would have compromised safety and the environment. But Mr O'Neil stressed that IMO could not afford to be complacent. "We must concentrate our efforts on the implementation of existing regulations, while remaining open to the need for new legislation if changes in technology or experience demand it," he said. He added that focus the attention on people was of utmost importance, as most sea accidents were caused by human error. "This means improving training and certification standards, tackling fatigue and ensuring that new technology is developed with safety in mind," he explained. Monday, September 21, 1998
		2009 | Important notices | Privacy Policy Last revision date : 17 September 2008