Antigua and Barbuda and the United Arab Emirates have become the latest International Marine Organization Member States to accept amendments to the Convention on the International Maritime Organization.
The amendments were adopted at the 32nd session of the IMO Assembly held in December 2021. They require acceptance by two thirds of the IMO Membership (117 Member States based on the current number of 175 Member States) for entry into force. The amendments have now been accepted by eleven States: Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Malaysia, Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, Honduras, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.
The amendments will:
- Expand the size of the Council
- Extend the term of its Members to a four-year term.
- Recognize three additional language texts (Arabic, Chinese and Russian) as authentic versions of the Convention.
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim welcomed H.E. Ambassador Dwight Gardiner OBE, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to IMO and H.E. Khalid Saud AlQasimi, Deputy Head of Mission of the United Arab Emirates at IMO HQ, London (14 March) to receive the instruments of acceptance.
