have the potential to affect adversely the safety
of lives, goods and property at sea, as well as the
marine environment.
8. IMO’S CODES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In addition to conventions and other formal treaty
instruments, IMO has adopted several hundred
recommendations dealing with a wide range of
subjects.
Some of these constitute codes, guidelines
or recommended practices on important matters
not considered suitable for regulation by formal
treaty instruments. Although recommendations
– whether in the form of codes or otherwise –
are not usually binding on Governments, they
provide guidance in framing national regulations
and requirements. Some Codes have been made
mandatory under the relevant provisions of SOLAS
and/or MARPOL.
In appropriate cases, the recommendations
may incorporate further requirements which
have been found to be useful or necessary in
the light of experience gained in the application
of the previous provisions. In other cases the
recommendations clarify various questions which
arise in connection with specific measures and
thereby ensure their uniform interpretation and
application in all countries.
Examples of the principal recommendations,
codes, etc., adopted over the years are:
●●
International Maritime Dangerous Goods
Code (IMDG Code) first adopted in
1965; made mandatory under SOLAS
amendments adopted in 2002;
●●
Code of Safe Practice for Solid Bulk Cargoes
(BC Code) (1965); (the International
Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code (IMSBC
Code)(2008) was made mandatory under
SOLAS amendments adopted in 2008);
●●
International Code of Signals (all functions
in respect of the Code were assumed by
the Organization in 1965);
●●
Code for the Construction and Equipment
of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in
Bulk (BCH Code)(1971); and
Technical Code on Control of Emission of
Nitrogen Oxides from Marine Diesel Engines (NOx
Technical Code – 1997; mandatory under MARPOL).
Other important recommendations have dealt
with such matters as traffic separation schemes
(which separate ships moving in opposite directions
by creating a central prohibited area); the adoption
of technical manuals such as the Standard Marine
Communication Phrases (SMCP), the International
Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue
Manual (jointly with the International Civil Aviation
Organisation) and the Manual on Oil Pollution;
crew training; performance standards for ship
borne equipment; and many other matters. There
are also guidelines to help the implementation of
particular conventions and instruments.
9. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
The purpose of IMO’s technical assistance
programme is to assist developing countries in
ratifying IMO conventions reaching the standards
contained in international maritime conventions
such as SOLAS and MARPOL. As part of this
programme, a number of advisers and consultants
are employed by IMO to advise Governments. Each
year the Organisation arranges or participates in
numerous seminars, workshops and other events
which are designed to assist in the implementation
of IMO measures. Some activities are held at IMO
Headquarters, many others in the developing
countries themselves.
A key element of the technical assistance
programme is training. IMO measures can only
be implemented effectively if those responsible
are fully trained, and IMO has helped to develop
or improve maritime training academies in
many countries around the world. Some of them
cater purely for national needs. Others have
been developed to deal with the requirements
of a region. This is a very useful approach
where the demand for trained personnel in
individual countries is not sufficient to justify the
considerable financial outlay needed to establish
such institutions. IMO has also developed a series
of model courses for use in training academies.
The most ambitious of all IMO’s technical
assistance projects is the World Maritime
University in Malmö, Sweden, which opened in
1983. Its objective is to provide high-level training
facilities for people from developing countries who
have already reached a relatively high standard
in their own countries but who would benefit
from further intensive training. The University has
capacity to train about 200 students at a time, on
one or two-year courses.
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