IMO’s Kitack Lim highlights importance of salvage operations

IMO secretary general Kitack Lim highlighted the important role the salvage industry plays in maritime safety and environmental protection. He said that maritime accidents were sometimes unavoidable because of human error, even though IMO has worked to improve safety in shipping.

Mr Lim said the salvage industry prevents accidents from becoming serious environmental situations and was appreciated by IMO. “We do a lot to prevent accidents, but we are human so we cannot always avoid accidents at sea,” he said at the International Salvage Union (ISU) conference in London.

He added: “If a serious accident takes place then this becomes a tremendous situation and this is when we appreciate the role of salvage operations. We appreciate the work salvors do for safety of life at sea and preventing damage to the marine environment in very perilous operations at sea.”

At the ISU conference, he presented the ISU Meritorious Award to the Italian Coast Guard for its role in co-ordinating the saving of hundreds of thousands of migrant lives in the Mediterranean in search and rescue operations. Italian Coast Guard chief of operations Admiral Nicola Carlone said more than 178,000 lives were saved in over 1,400 search and rescue events in 2016.

Read more about tugs, salvage and other subjects covered at the ISU conference at www.tugtechnologyandbusiness,com