NOVEMBER 19, 2013 — The Annual Tripartite meeting between shipowners, shipbuilders and classification societies was held in Tokyo last month. Organizations represented included: International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), Committee for Expertise of Shipbuilding Specifics (CESS), BIMCO, Intercargo, Intertanko and OCIMF.

 The meeting unanimously welcomed the IMO theme for 2013 of "a sustainable maritime transport system" and its recognition of the three pillars of sustainability; environmental, social and economic. The Tripartite meeting emphasized that safety was the paramount objective of ship construction, classification and operation and that safety was a key principle that underpinned each of the sustainability pillars.

In this context, the Tripartite partners looked forward to an opportunity to emphasize the balanced inter-relationship between safety and the sustainability pillars and to work toward a regulatory process that requires an initial impact assessment at the earliest stages of development of a new regulation, to assess its potential consequences and benefits on safety, the environment, and economic and social issues. "It was a great honor to chair the annual Tripartite meeting in Tokyo this year, said BIMCO President John Denholm. "It was a very engaging couple of days with a full agenda and lots of debate. It was particularly pleasing to see the commonality of views across the shipping industry as a whole and support for the work that the IMO does on our behalf".

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