IMO Facilitation of Maritime Commerce

Stowaways, mooring personnel training and e-Business were key topics at last week’s meeting of the IMO’s Facilitation Committee.

The report to the IMO on stowaways shows a levelling out of reported cases in 2024, when compared to 2023, with a slight increase in the number of people hiding onboard. A total of 277 incidents were reported to insurers, totalling 770 stowaways - an average of 2.8 stowaways per event. Dealing with such stowaways remains a significant economic burden, with an average cost of US$26,000 per incident.

The Committee adopted new guidelines on the minimum standards for training and education of mooring personnel. In our intervention supporting these new guidelines, The Nautical Institute highlighted that our Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme (MARS) receives a steady number of incidents reports related to mooring, averaging just under 10 per year. With far too many of these incidents leading to the injury, or even deaths, or riggers, line handers and mooring personnel, these new training guidelines are very welcome.

A series of agenda items continued the process of smoothing data and information flow related to e-Business. The IMO Compendium was updated with a new dataset and format on Electronic Bills of Lading, along with other data format updates. A series of briefings then shared positive experiences of implementing the Maritime Single Window, through which vessel arrival’s, stay and departure information is consolidated through a single portal.

A more comprehensive report on this meeting will be published for our members in Seaways, the monthly Journal of The Nautical Institute.

The Nautical Institute was represented at this Committee by Captain Chris O’Flaherty AFNI.