While on the way to London after his first visit to Russia IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim shared the visit results with IAA PortNews correspondent:
- During my visit to Russia I had a successful meeting with Transport Minister of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov , in the course of which we exchanged opinions and discussed our bilateral relations, the issues Russia and IMO are to deal with.
I see our similar attitude to global shipping, to climate change issues (Paris Agreement) and to sulphur content in marine fuel.
We had a very positive discussion of further participation of Russia in IMO activities since Russia is certainly one of the key players at the IMO platform, shaping, to a great extent, the policy of the maritime industry, especially in the Arctic.
I took part in the meeting of the Tokyo MoU Committee in Vladivostok. During the meeting Russia brought up an issue of cooperation between the Tokyo MoU and the IMO and I agree with your country’s position – this cooperation should be enhanced. Port control in different regions of the world is regulated by separate MoUs. It is very important for us to improve and expand cooperation between those MoUs.
Both port authorities of the states and the business agree with this position. For me, it was very important to take part in the business conference held in Vladivostok immediately after the meeting of the Tokyo MoU Committee. The programme of my trip included the visit to the Maritime State University named after Admiral Nevelskoy and the sail training ship Nadezhda where I held meetings with cadets.
I highly appraise the hard work of Russia’s maritime authorities in the part maritime education. I was satisfied with the approaches of Russia to arranging the education process, they fully comply with the STCW Convention. One more important comment: I saw motivation in the eyes of Russian cadets – future seafarers.