The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council has announced the appointment of Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco as the next Secretary-General.
Valesco’s term will begin on 1 January 2024, pending confirmation by the IMO Assembly.
The decision was made on 18 July during the 129th session of the IMO Council, which began on 17 July and concludes on 21 July.
The tenure of the current Secretary-General, Kitack Lim of the Republic of Korea, expires on 31 December 2023, and seven IMO member states have nominated candidates.
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The seven nominees were Moin Uddin Ahmed of Bangladesh, Suat Hayri Aka of Turkey, Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco of Panama, Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry of Dominica, Nancy Karigithu of Kenya, Minna Kivimäki of Finland, and Zhang Xiaojie of China.
Dominguez Velasco, the first Panamanian and Latin American candidate for this post, has over 25 years of professional experience in the worldwide maritime business and is now the Director of the Worldwide Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Division.
Four days later, IMO adopted the 2023 IMO Strategy on reducing GHG emissions from ships at MEPC 80.
