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́NTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATION: THE UNITED KINGDOM'S STATUS AND DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
Introduction
1. This paper considers the implications for the United Kingdom (UK) of
of the continuing decline in the tonnage of its merchant fleet on UK status within the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). In particular this relates to the category in which, in future, the UK could stand for election to the IMO Council. Linked to this issue is the wider policy questions of whether, and how, the UK Dependent Territories should be represented in future at IMO and the extension of the IMO Conventions to them.
The UK's Status at IMO: Objectives
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First, the status question. Annual assessments to IMO and status within the Organisation are based, in part, on a member state's merchant fleet's tonnage derived from published statistics (Lloyds Register of Shipping). The statistics used
used for
for the UK include, by convention, the tonnage of the Crown Dependencies (see Annex 1) but not those of the Dependent Territories. As Annex 1 shows, over the last decade, the UK has fallen from third to ninth position among the world's leading merchant fleets. The relevance of this decline, particularly if it continues, may be to affect the UK's right to stand for the IMO Council in category A, ie as one of the:
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"eight
states with the largest interest providing international shipping services".
in
Although membership of category A coes not confer any particular voting privileges or position, it carries with it the prestige of ranking among the leading maritime countries of the world. This in itself brings with it some extra ability to influence the direction of IMO policies and priorities. There are other categories in which the UK could seek election to the IMO Council and in voting terms the UK's voice would carry no less