International Maritime Organisation

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO)is an agency of the United Nations established in 1948 by a convention which came into force in 1958. Today it has 158 Member States plus two Associate Members.

The Organisations chief task, especially in the early years, was to develop a comprehensive body of international conventions, codes and recommendations in the area of International shipping, particularly shipping safety, which could be implemented by all Member Governments.

The most important convention regulating and preventing marine pollution by ships is the IMO International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, commonly known as MARPOL 73/78. It covers accidental and operational oil pollution as well as pollution by chemicals, goods in packaged form, sewage, garbage and air pollution.

For more information, please see the IMO website here.

The IMO operates through committees which are assigned specific functions. Marine Environment together with the Marine Survey Office (MSO) and Attorney Generals Office are involved with the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) and the Legal Committee. The MEPC is IMO's senior technical body on marine pollution related matters.

The Sea Pollution Act, 1991, enabled Ireland to ratify MARPOL, and Regulations to give effect to it were introduced in 1994 and updated in 1997, 2002, 2003 and 2006.

The Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1999, gives effect to the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, 1990 (OPRC).

Other instruments will be given effect in the Sea Pollution (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003. These include a Protocol to OPRC adopted at IMO in March 2000, Annex VI to MARPOL (air pollution from ships) and the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on Ships.