UN System Documentation

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

• Established as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) in 1948; became a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1959; renamed International Maritime Organization in 1982.
  • Convention on the International Maritime Organization
    • ​Concluded at Geneva in 1948, entered into force in 1958
• Relationship Agreement with the UN (1959)
  • 324 UNTS 273
• Governing Bodies
  • IMO Assembly
    • All IMO Member States
    • Meets every two years
  • IMO Council
    • 40 members
• Legal texts
  • Conventions
  • IMDG Code
• Maritime Knowledge Centre
• IMODOCS
• Secretaries-General
  • 2016- : Kitack Lim (Republic of Korea) (Press release SG/SM/17510-SAG/477)
  • 2012-2015: Koji Sekimizu (Japan)
  • 2004-2011: Efthimios Mitropoulos (Greece)
  • 1990- 2003: William A. O'Neil (Canada)
  • 1974-1989: Chandrika Prasad Srivastava (India)
  • 1968-1973: Colin Goad (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
  • 1964-1967: Jean Roullier (France)
  • 1961-1963: William Graham (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) (acting)
  • 1959-1961: Ove Nielsen (Denmark)