Vitaly Klyuev.
Russia for the first time puts forward its candidate to compete for the post of IMO Secretary-General
The Russian Federation has sent to the Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) a statement on the nomination of a candidate for the post of Secretary General of the organization. The nominee is Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy for Maritime and River Transport of Russia Vitaly Klyuev.
It will be the first time ever that a candidate from Russia will compete for the IMO SG’s post. Previously, the country never nominated its candidates for the post of Secretary-General of IMO.
Russia is a member state of the IMO since the inception of the organization.
The reason for such a move was an attempt by some Member States to make the IMO a platform for biased discussions stirred up by some businesses, due to the attempts to use environmental risks issues as a tool in the struggle for world markets. Russia intends to ensure that during the discussion of any matter all IMO members will be able to find the balanced, compromised and timely decisions.
Vote on the nominees for the IMO Secretary General post will begin in June 2015. The new Secretary-General of IMO will assume the office as from 1 January 2016.
The London, UK headquartered International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations with 171 Member States and three Associate Members. The IMO’s primary purpose is to develop and maintain a comprehensive regulatory framework for shipping and its remit today includes safety, environmental concerns, legal matters, technical co-operation, maritime security and the efficiency of shipping.
In 1948 an international conference in Geneva adopted a convention formally establishing IMO (the original name was the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization, or IMCO, but the name was changed in 1982 to IMO).
The IMO Convention entered into force in 1958 and the new Organization met for the first time the following year.
The IMO’s activities are aimed among others at the abolition of discriminatory practices affecting international merchant shipping, as well as at the adoption of rules (standards) on maritime safety and the prevention of pollution of the environment from ships, primarily the marine environment. The IMO has a staff of about 300 people.
In a sense, the IMO is a forum where member-states can share information, discuss the legal framework, technical and other issues related to shipping and pollution of the marine environment.
IMO is governed by an Assembly of members and is financially administered by a Council of members elected from the Assembly. IMO is supported by a permanent secretariat of employees who are representative of its members. The secretariat is composed of a Secretary-General who is periodically elected by the Assembly.
Currently, the IMO Secretary-General is a representative of Japan Koji Sekimizu. He has visited the Russian Federation several times and took part in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, and also was a passenger of the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker traveling on the Northern Sea Route.
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Vitaly Klyuev profile:
Basic education:
Navigation faculty of the Far-Eastern High Engineering Maritime College, Vladivostok, Russia, 1985;
Institute of International Relationships of the Far-Eastern State University, Vladivostok, Russia, 2002.
Additional training (selected):
- Business for Russia training course, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, 1996;
- Caterpillar Engine training course, Seattle, Washington, USA, 1997;
- Port State Control Officers Basic Training Course, Yokohama, Japan, 1998;
- Advanced English training course, Moscow, Russia, 2011;
- Quality Management Systems training course, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2013.
Academic degree:
Doctor of transport
Career summary:
- Far-Eastern State Maritime Academy (at present: Maritime State University), Vladivostok, Russia, 1985 – senior lecturer (Radio-navigation equipment, e-navigation);
- State owned JSC Norfes, Vladivostok, Russia, 1995 – Head of VTS software development and support division (development and support of software for vessel traffic systems), Head of Port State Control coordination and information support division (development and support of PSC related database, coordination of Port State Control activities within the Russian Pacific ports);
- Maritime Administration of seaport of Vladivostok, Vladivostok, Russia, 1999 – Head of Asia-Pacific maritime information and coordination centre (development and support of Asia-Pacific computerized information system – information system of the Tokyo MOU on Port State Control, coordination of PSC activities in the Russian Pacific ports);
- Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia, 2006 – Head of maritime and river transport safety division, Deputy Director of the Department of State policy for maritime and river transport (legislation development in the maritime and river transport sector, maritime and river transport safety and security activity policy, bilateral and multilateral relations on maritime and river transport, IMO coordination, PSC MOUs coordination, IMSO coordination, and etc.).
Maritime related experience:
- Able seaman, deck officer on seagoing vessels: passenger vessel, general dry cargo carrier, timber carrier, refrigerator, container vessel;
- Onboard trainer: training vessel;
- Visited areas: Arctic, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, China;
- Sailing sport: master of sailing, national referee in sailing.
International maritime activity:
- Manager of the Asia-Pacific Computerized Information System (APCIS) – regional information system of the Tokyo MOU on PSC;
- Manager of the Black Sea Information System (BSIS) – regional information system of the Black Sea MOU on PSC;
- Chairman of the Database managers meeting of the Tokyo MOU on PSC;
- Chairman of the Committee of the Tokyo MOU on PSC;
- Chairman of the Committee of the Black Sea MOU on PSC;
- Vice-Chairman of the Committee of the Paris MOU on PSC;
- Head of Russian delegations to various IMO meetings since 2007;
- Visited more than 50 IMO Member States located on all continents when involved in maritime related activities (bilateral and multilateral meetings, international events).
Vitaly Klyuev’s Vision
International Maritime Organization is the global technical institution aimed to regulate international shipping. IMO has a full set of instruments for both developing and properly implementing the mandatory regulations. IMO provides a wide-range forum for developing regulations.
Main principles of IMO activities:
- – IMO is a member driven organization;
- – Involvement of all stakeholders/interested parties in all aspects of IMO activity is a key point;
- – Global and universal approach to regulatory work and implementation process;
- – Technical guidance of development and implementation of requirements;
- – Transparency of activities;
- – Assessment of effectiveness of activities;
- – Maintaining balance between safety, environment protection, social (human) aspects and possibilities of the shipping industry;
- – Efficiency of shipping.
Role of the IMO Secretariat:
- – Technical support for meetings;
- – Providing legal advice on the regulatory developments;
- – Providing (organizing) technical expertise on the regulations under development;
- – Promoting intergovernmental cooperation and communication within the IMO mandate;
- – Maintaining dialogue with the maritime industry;
- – Supporting interagency cooperation and communication.
Secretary-General’s points of focus for the nearest future:
- – Completing reforms initiated by the incumbent SG;
- – Keeping adequate budget of the Organization;
- – Maintaining the adequate composition and ability of the Secretariat staff;
- – Proper and effective implementation of IMO Member States Audit Scheme as well as other new requirements in which the Secretariat is directly involved;
- – Improving reporting scheme including electronic means;
- – Collection of data on mandatory requirements implementation by Member States, and difficulties faced.
Areas of potential improvement of the Secretariat activities:
- – Closer attention to regulation implementation by Member States via more effective technical support from the Organization;
- – More effective use of Technical Cooperation programs, reorganizing TC scheme and TC strategy, providing more specific support to Member States encountering implementation difficulties;
- – More effective use of the Secretariat staff and resources, documenting duties and responsibilities of every staff member and every Secretariat division;
- – Introduction of a Quality Management System in the Secretariat;
- – Development and implementation of the Secretariat program/schedule of proactive communication with every Member State focusing on developing countries, maintaining up-to-date communication channels between the Secretariat and every Member State;
- – Introduction of an assessment scheme for the regulative effect of regulations, both under development and existing;
- – A broader use of risk based approach to the various IMO activities;
- Initiate a comprehensive review of the existing regulations to provide more flexibility to the industry while maintaining the equivalent or higher level of safety.
