IAMU News No.13, October 2006

IMO COUNCIL APPROVES NGO STATUS FOR IAMU

Reports by the IAMU Secretary's Office

The IMO Council approved IAMU's application for Non-Governmental Consultative Organization (NGO) status at their meetings held on June 19th to 23rd, 2006, in London.

Gaining NGO status has been a long-standing goal of IAMU. Our official application was submitted to IMO at the end of March, 2006, but the preparatory work for submitting an application and seeking approval has been ongoing for several years.

The Council was unanimous in approval of the IAMU application, which now will be reviewed by the Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC) and the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC). MSC consideration is now docketed for its 82nd meeting in Istanbul in November, 2006. If approved by MSC, the application will be docketed for final approval to the 2007 meeting of the Assembly, the supreme body of the IMO.

The granting of approval is truly a landmark event in the growth and development of IAMU. It signifies official acknowledgement of privileged member status in the world maritime community.

On this historic occasion, we ask all members of our unique international network of MET institutions to collaborate toward our goal of passing on expertise and educating the next generation of mariners, in partnership with IMO and other colleagues in the maritime field.