Maritime Safety Committee tackles busy agenda

The 110th session of the Maritime Safety Committee takes place from the 18th to the 27th of June, with a busy agenda.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez opened the meeting by highlighting recent maritime casualties as a stark reminder of IMO's critical role in ensuring safety, security, and environmental protection of shipping, and the importance of implementing IMO regulations.

The Secretary-General expressed his sadness at reports of four seafarers unaccounted for in an accident involving the MV Wan Hai 503 off the Indian coast days ago.

He also acknowledged the sinking of the MSC ELSA 3 sank off the coast of Kochi, India in May, and a fire incident on the car carrier Morning Midas in the Pacific Ocean. Yesterday, the oil tanker ADALYNN collided with the VLCC, Front Eagle, off Khor Fakkan, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), resulting in a massive fire.

Secretary-General Dominguez confirmed that IMO will continue to monitor the follow-up and lessons learned from these incidents.

“Given the increasing number of recent incidents, I wish to urge all Member States and the maritime industry to improve compliance with IMO international standards, exercise enhanced vigilance and navigational safety, ensure emergency preparedness and rapid response capabilities, and strengthen cooperation and information sharing to safeguard seafarers, ships and the marine environment” he said.

Key issues for MSC 110

The Maritime Safety Committee runs from 18 to 27 June for its 110th session. The Committee deals with all matters related to maritime safety and maritime security which fall within the scope of IMO, including both passenger ships and all kinds of cargo ships. A range of issues will be covered, including: 

IMO’s GHG reduction safety strategy 

Work continues on assessing alternative fuels and new technologies and addressing safety gaps to support IMO’s GHG goals.  Discussions will cover the possible revision of the IMO's Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships (Nuclear Code). 

Maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) 

Ongoing work on a non-mandatory MASS Code, including finalization of remaining chapters of the draft Code. Chapters dealing with a broad range of issues, including surveys and certificates, operational context and management of safe operations will be discussed. 

International Safety Management Code

Several matters related to the International Safety Management (ISM) Code will also be considered. These include: a proposal to review the Code; the outcome of the considerations on violence and harassment by the Joint ILO/IMO Working Group; and recommendations emanating from the Study on the effectiveness and implementation of the ISM Code.

Next steps to enhance maritime cybersecurity 

The Committee will consider cybersecurity measures for ships and ports amid growing digitalization, including the use of international maritime information-sharing centers.  

Piracy and armed robbery against ships 

Review of 2024 piracy reports show a slight decrease in cases (146 attempted and occurred incidents of piracy and armed robbery) compared to 2023 (150). The number of reported incidents has picked back up in the first part of 2025, with 109 reported incidents within the first six months of 2025 (1 January - 17 June 2025).