International Maritime Organization

Topic A: Responding to Environmental Damage caused by Global Shipping 

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), shipping accounts for approximately 90% of all global trade. As such, large quantities of environmentally hazardous chemicals are transported by sea. The original mandate of the IMO was concerned with maritime safety. However this soon grew to include concerns over pollution caused by oil spills, and how this posed a safety concern to mariners, the environment, and local communities. This mandate has expanded thus, that of the 51 regulatory treaty instruments adopted by the IMO, 21 of them are directly related to the environment. Current areas of focus include reducing plastic pollution from ships, reducing noise pollution from ships, and preventing the transfer of invasive species by ship. It needs to be considered that some developing countries may need help to meet the standards established by the IMO. The concern of environmental damage directly relates to the IMO’s mission of safety on the high seas. The goal of this committee is to create and refine rules and regulations in the maritime field to keep member nations in line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.

Topic B: Threats to Maritime Safety from Modern Piracy 

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines piracy as “any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft”. Piracy has existed for centuries before the existence of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and as an organization focused on maritime safety, piracy is a natural concern. In the 90’s and 2000’s much of the focus was on piracy in the straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. More recently, since 2005 piracy off Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean have been an area of primary focus. Furthermore, enhancing security against piracy in western Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea, is an important concern. According to the IMO, in 2024 146 acts of piracy were reported. Dealing with piracy will require significant international cooperation. Methods of counter-pirate operations, contributions from whom and of what size, as well as the boundary between national and international action is all up in the air. The goal of this committee is to further develop and refine regulations and recommendations for member nations, port authorities, and seafarers to protect themselves from the threats posed by piracy.

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