President’s call with Secretary General Mr Arsenio Dominguez at the IMO

The Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization, Mr Arsenio Dominguez, welcomed to his Headquarters the President of The Nautical Institute, Captain Trevor Bailey, on 17 September 2024.

The Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization, Mr Arsenio Dominguez, welcomed to his Headquarters the President of The Nautical Institute, Captain Trevor Bailey, on 17 September 2024.

Highlighting the human element of our industry, they discussed the importance of seafarer representation in the development and evolution of maritime technology and regulation. The Secretary General noted that many emerging technologies are being designed to aid or to supplement mariners, especially on shorter coastal voyages, also noting that replacement of mariners on many ocean voyages is still many years away – the expertise of seafarers must be at the core of all such developments. In parallel, they discussed that the opportunities of digitalisation of many aspects of the maritime environment should be seized to develop and to refine required processes rather than simply digitally replicate existing systems and bureaucracies.

The maritime decarbonisation agenda was discussed alongside the need to ensure financially viable availability of emerging ‘alternative fuels’, taking into consideration global trading patterns and also the security of shipping when emerging geopolitical events require re-routing of trading vessels.

Returning to the Human Element, they discussed the importance of cadet training and mentoring, noting that the young seafarers of today are the core of the future of our industry. In this regard, they discussed the work of The Nautical Institute in promoting cadet membership, female representation in our industry, and the mentoring of junior seafarers.

The Nautical Institute continues to advocate for our members at the IMO and will be represented at all IMO Committees and Sub-Committees this semester.

Our President presented to the Secretary General a photo he had taken from “Star Breeze” in Fincantieri Palermo shipyard, in November 2019. He was the “Yard Captain” for the project and later the Master of the final ship when it left the shipyard in April 2022.