Red Sea crisis underlines role of UN shipping agency

The new Head of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Mr. Arsenio Dominguez, had been at the helm of the UN shipping agency for just three days when in January 2024 he briefed the UN Security Council on the crisis in the Red Sea. Houthi-led attacks on international shipping off the coast of Yemen have disrupted global trade since November 2023.

International shipping is the backbone of the global economy, transporting more than 80% of global trade, and IMO, headquartered in London, is responsible for regulating the industry. After a series of global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the Red Sea attacks, the vital role played by maritime trade – and therefore IMO – has been plunged into the spotlight.

Disruption in the Red Sea

Houthi rebels in Yemen began attacking ships in the Red Sea in November 2023.

Mr. Dominguez says his first reaction was one of “concern” and condemns the attacks in an interview with UNRIC, “in particular the negative effect that it has on seafarers who are innocent victims, and the negative effect it also has on the freedom of navigation in global trade.” He says that attacks on international shipping cannot be justified and is calling for the immediate release of the Galaxy Leader and its crew, after the ship and its 25 seafarers were seized last November.

“My third call is for the de-escalation of the situation and to continue to maintain the negotiations utilising of course first the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and the role of IMO in supporting shipping.”

In January 2024, the Security Council adopted a resolution demanding that the Houthis immediately cease all attacks on merchant and commercial vessels. IMO has been in continuous conversation with relevant stakeholders and all IMO Member States to provide support to the countries around the Red Sea.

A vital link through the Suez Canal

Connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, the Suez Canal enables a more direct route for shipping between Europe and Asia, compared to going around the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Goods including natural gas, oil, cars, raw materials and many manufactured products and industry components have been transported through the canal.

Given the risk of attack in the Red Sea, many ships are now avoiding the vital waterway, and the volume of trade through the Suez Canal has fallen by 42%, estimates the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD.

Ships are instead opting for an extended route around the southernmost tip of Africa, which takes on average ten days more and drives up costs, not to mention impacts efforts to decarbonise the shipping industry.

“Ships have now been forced to increase their emissions by travelling on a longer route,” says Mr. Dominguez.

Consumers will face increased prices, due to rising freight insurance and the operational costs of the ships.

“Economies are still rebuilding from [the COVID-19 pandemic]. This is an unwanted situation because it will have an impact and the longer it continues, the more the impact will be felt,” Mr. Dominguez adds.

Spotlight on shipping in times of crisis

The Red Sea disruption comes on top of reduced vessel crossings in the Panama Canal due to abnormally low water levels linked to climate change impacts. The war in Ukraine is still affecting shipping.

Such crises increase the attention on maritime transport’s role in serving the global economy. In March 2021, for example, the grounding of the vast Ever Given container ship, which blocked the Suez Canal for days, wreaked havoc with global supply chains and disrupted global trade flow.

“Shipping is more than just when we have an accident,” Mr. Dominguez underlines. He believes the maritime industry is “underestimated” and that his new role as Secretary-General is to enhance its visibility and importance. “We have to be more outspoken.”

He has set out four strategic priorities: IMO’s work to regulate international shipping; its support to Member States – particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs); enhancing public awareness and image; and relations with people and stakeholders.

“The vision is for a more forward-looking organisation that is more transparent; more diverse in all its sense.”

A broad environmental agenda

One of the key areas IMO will work on is making the shipping industry more sustainable. The sector operates an ageing fleet, with over half the world’s ships now exceeding 15 years of age and running ?almost exclusively on fossil fuels – accounting for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In July 2023, IMO Member States adopted a strategy to tackle harmful emissions, including an ambition to decarbonise the shipping industry by around 2050. The work to achieve the transition is immense.

“We have to rely as well on other the sectors to support our transition, such as the energy sector, as we will be needing new alternative fuels – low carbon and zero carbon fuels – that will allow us to decarbonise accordingly,” says Mr. Dominguez, who in his previous role was Director of IMO’s Marine Environment Division.

One of the targets established is for an uptake within the global fleet of at least 5% of alternative fuels by 2030.

“It sounds like a small number, but take into account that right now we are less than 0.5% of the uptake because the fuels are not available at the expected amounts. We still have a challenge.” The alternative fuels must be tested for safety, and regulation must be put in place to guarantee security. Workforces need to be trained to handle the new fuels.

In other work, IMO has adopted a strategy to address marine plastic litter from ships; and has introduced protected areas at sea which are vulnerable to damage by international maritime activities; as well as traffic monitoring systems to avoid collisions with mammals in the oceans.

A focus on safety

In office since 1 January 2024 for an initial four-year term, Mr. Dominguez hails from Panama, “a shipping nation by nature”, and which sparked his passion for the sector.

“I grew up seeing these incredible, majestic, huge ships on the bay in Panama. And of course, the linkages with the Panama Canal. It was one of the reasons why shipping was always attractive for me.”

The IMO Head studied naval architecture, and began his maritime career as a port engineer in Panama. He moved to London to join the Panama Maritime Authority, before going on to represent Panama at the IMO.

“The rest is history. I fell in love with everything. I respected and wanted to be part of all the good work that this organisation does for shipping and what shipping does for the world,” Mr. Dominguez recounts.

He highlights in particular the work IMO has done for the industry on safety.

“Safety is the area that IMO is born from,” he says, citing how the agency has decreased shipping losses by 65% in over the past decade, and oil spills by more than 90% compared to numbers in the 70s.

“It’s a global industry [and] we need global regulations. That is what we are here for, and what we have been doing for just over 75 years now.”

See also:

• Red Sea attacks: Seafarers’ lives must be protected