During the 34th session of the International Maritime Organization Assembly, the russian federation, for the second time in a row, failed to be elected to the IMO Council.
Elections of new members of this intersessional governing body are held every two years and traditionally take place at the end of the first week of the Assembly session. This time, 48 states competed for the forty seats, which are distributed across three categories based on their role in global seaborne trade.
russia put forward its candidacy in Category “A”, trying to convince the global community of its exceptional interest in providing international shipping services. Instead, the Assembly’s decision – fair and logical – substantiated that reality is the exact opposite. As H.E. Mr. Sven Sakkov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Estonia to IMO, vocally stated during his address, it became critically important for the Organization “not to put the fox to guard the henhouse”.
Violations of international maritime and humanitarian law during the aggression against Ukraine are incompatible with interests and safety of seafarers, shipping companies, cargo owners, and the port community. russia’s actions infringe upon the fundamental principles of the IMO’s activities, as set out in the founding 1948 Convention.
Achieving this result would not have been possible without the coordinated cooperation of the Ukrainian side, particularly:
- Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, who had the honour to open general statements of high-level guests at the Assembly and deliver a speech on operation of Ukrainian maritime industry in wartime conditions;
- The Office of the President of Ukraine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Embassy of Ukraine in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and other foreign representations, which engaged in meticulous diplomacy to promote the decision across all continents;
- The Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine and the Shipping Administration, who supported the activities of Ukrainian delegations throughout the year, prepared position papers for participation in meetings, and raised IMO-related issues during bilateral contacts.
We advocated for the final decision among the countries of Asia, Africa, and Oceania, owing to the support of Members of the European Union and the European Commission, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Norway, Australia, and Japan. Directly during the Assembly, the delegations of these states traditionally supported Ukraine during the discussion on implementation of resolution A.1183(33) dated 04 December 2023, which condemned the russian aggression. Furthermore, Lithuania and Estonia drew particular attention to russia’s criminal actions in general statements of their high representatives.
The Shipping Administration will continue to make any effort to defend the Ukraine’s national interests within the International Maritime Organization framework.
