The Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA) has announced that Liberia has been elected to Category ‘A’ of the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), at the 33rd Assembly session of the organization in London.
It followed a hotly contested election, Friday, December 1, 2023. The Assembly, according to a LiMA release, is the highest decision-making body of the IMO, and meets biennially to approve the decisions of the organization.
Liberia, along with nine other Member States, including China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Panama, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States, was elected to Category ‘A’ of the 40-member Council to serve for the next biennium (2024-2025).
Category ‘A’ comprises countries with the largest interest in providing international shipping services. Liberia, with 14 percent of the world’s oceangoing fleet (or some 5,000 vessels), fits neatly in this category.
Liberia last served in Category ‘A’ in 1995. It lost that position, however, due to the protracted civil war. Liberia attempted twice (2007 and 2009) to get back in Category ‘A’ to no avail, but the country was elected in 2011 under Category ‘C’ for the 2012 and 2013 biennium, and was re-elected in 2013 for the 2014 and 2015 biennium.
Also, Liberia was re-elected in 2015 for the 2016 and 2017 biennium, and in 2017 for the 2018 and 2019 biennium, but lost its re-election bid in Category ‘C’ in 2019, with the Liberian government not contesting in 2021.
According to the release, the government, at the same time, made an informed decision in 2020 to contest in Category ‘A’, following feedback from many Member States suggesting that Liberia was contesting in the wrong category.
The election, the LiMA release narrated, of the country to Category ‘A’ at this time comes, hot on the heels of the Liberian Registry regaining its position as the world’s largest ship registry.
LiMA Commissioner, Lenn Eugene Nagbe, during the highly contested campaign, asserted that, for many decades, Liberia has furthered the growth and development of the IMO by rigorously participating and contributing to its functions through its secretariat and through various committees – including in the drafting and sponsoring of important regulations.
The Commissioner specifically reminded the Assembly that the adoption of the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy in July this year was under the chairmanship of Liberia during the 80th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Nagbe headed Liberia’s Delegation to the 33rdAssembly session and led the team that worked tirelessly to ensure that the country regained its rightful place on the Council of IMO.
