SEA-LNG has secured consultative status at the International Maritime Organization, giving the methane-fuel coalition formal access to regulatory meetings and technical discussions on shipping decarbonisation, according to SEA-LNG.
The decision was taken during the IMO Council’s 137th session, held from 6 to 10 July 2026. Organisations with consultative status may receive meeting documents, submit papers and attend sessions as observers. They have no voting rights and may speak when invited by the chair. The Council’s decision remains subject to approval by the IMO Assembly.
SEA-LNG calls the designation provisional. However, the IMO’s published outcome lists SEA-LNG, the International Electric Marine Association and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping as organisations granted consultative status without that qualification.
The Ocean Foundation received provisional status for up to two years. SEA-LNG said the status would allow it to engage directly with IMO member states and contribute technical expertise and research to discussions covering LNG, liquefied biomethane and e-methane. It said the move would support a “pragmatic, multi-fuel pathway to net zero”. The announcement coincided with SEA-LNG’s tenth anniversary. The coalition, established in 2016, has 37 members across the methane value chain. Its 2026 mid-year review cited DNV figures showing 73 LNG dual-fuel vessel orders in the first half, representing almost 90% of the alternative-fuel orderbook when compared with ammonia, hydrogen and methanol. SEA-LNG also counted 67 LNG bunker vessels in operation and another 42 on order.