“FROM POLICY TO PRACTICE: POWERING MARITIME EXCELLENCE”
A message from Arsenio Dominguez Secretary-General,
International Maritime Organization
For nearly 80 years, IMO has built the framework for global shipping – more than 50 international conventions shape the everyday of maritime life.
However, we must be honest – experience shows that the true value of these instruments is realized only when they are effectively applied, delivering practical benefits on board ships, in ports and throughout the global maritime domain.
The real test and the real responsibility lie in implementation, how we transition “From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence”.
This theme reflects our mission: ensuring that the global regulatory framework we develop is not merely adopted in principle, but translated into concrete actions and real-world results that deliver tangible benefits for all.
When we talk about “practice”, we are talking about people. The seafarers on the ship; the people in the port; those managing ship operations, ship recycling workers, port State control officers and flag State administrators.
To make the maritime industry truly sustainable, we must ensure these high standards are felt in every port and on every deck – not selectively, not unevenly, but globally. IMO is committed to powering this transition through technical cooperation and direct support.
Let us move beyond the conference room and turn our collective decisions into real-world results that benefit everyone.
It is time to move decisively from policy to practice.
Watch the IMO Secretary-General’s World Maritime Day message.
“From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence” has been selected in 2025 as the IMO’s World Maritime Day theme for 2026 and 2027, culminating in the annual celebration on the 24 of September this year.
For the first time, the theme will run for two years, highlighting IMO’s clear commitment to put policies into practice, by providing technical assistance, training and other essential services.
Secretary-General Dominguez said at the 134th IMO Council in July 2025:
The theme transmits a clear message of our commitment to ensuring regulations are put into action and providing the necessary technical assistance for implementation to Member States. This ultimately strengthens the confidence that global rules agreed at IMO can lead to safer, more secure and environmentally sound shipping worldwide.
TURNING REGULATIONS INTO TANGIBLE RESULTS
- “From Policy to Practice” in the theme underscores IMO’s core mission of ensuring that the global regulatory framework it develops is not merely adopted in principle but translated into concrete national legislation, enforcement and day-to-day operations across the maritime sector.
- “Powering” signals the momentum and targeted support through capacity-building, technical cooperation and knowledge sharing which IMO, together with its partners, provides to drive this transition.
- “Maritime Excellence” conveys the ultimate objective: a consistently safe, secure, efficient and environmentally sustainable shipping industry, operating to the highest international standards and continually striving for improvement.
Together, the theme conveys a holistic, action-oriented commitment: turning collective regulatory decisions into real-world results that deliver tangible benefits for all.
THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATION (INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATION IMO)
IMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for activities aimed at improving the safety and security of international shipping and preventing pollution from ships. It also deals with legal matters, including issues of liability and compensation, as well as the facilitation of international maritime traffic.
It was established under the IMCO Convention, adopted under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on 17 March 1948, and its first session took place in January 1959.
The Organisation’s original name – the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation – IMCO) – was changed, and since 22 May 1982 it has been known as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
According to the current legal status, the IMO has 176 member states, whilst 3 states hold associate member status within the Organisation.
70 YEARS OF REGULATORY ACTION
For over 70 years, the IMO has worked to develop a comprehensive framework of international maritime conventions, with associated codes, guidelines and recommendations. The full benefits of this framework can only be realized through ratification, effective implementation and constant enforcement. The IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) has reported gaps in national legislation and enforcement, indicating a need to improve regulatory effectiveness.
Global attention on the theme in 2026–2027 could accelerate the national action towards implementation of all IMO instruments.
The theme supports the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular:
- SDG 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure;
- SDG 13 on climate action;
- SDG 14 on life below water; and
- SDG 17 on partnerships.
The theme highlights the IMO’s continued contribution to broader global efforts, as well as the importance of cross-cutting and effective maritime governance in sustainable development.
CENTRE FOR IMO AFFAIRS AT THE POLISH REGISTER OF SHIPPING
The IMO Convention entered into force in respect of Poland on 13 March 1961
(Journal of Laws No. 14, item 74).
On 20 June 1967 the Minister of Shipping established the Polish Centre for IMO Affairs to conduct in-country matters relating to the activities of the IMO and the participation of Poland in the work of that Organization. The Centre operates at the Polish Register of Shipping as an institution closely related by the nature of its activities to the work and objectives of IMO.
The main responsibilities of the Centre include the preparation of substantive materials for the Polish delegation to the sessions of IMO bodies and informing the concerned institutions about the issues considered by IMO, as well as the topics prepared and foreseen to be taken up.
Since Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004, an important role of the IMO Centre has also been to cooperate with the Ministry of Infrastructure on Poland’s participation in IMO sessions, in coordination with other EU Member States.
The Centre carries out its activities within national specialised sections, which are the equivalent of IMO bodies, its three committees – MSC, MEPC and LEG – and seven subcommittees – PPR, CCC, NCSR, SDC, SSE, HTW and III.
The role of the individual sections is to analyse matters considered at sessions of IMO bodies, to prepare substantive positions for the Polish delegation for the deliberations
of specialised IMO committees and subcommittees, and to discuss the implications of decisions taken by the IMO with a view to their implementation at national level.
The Centre’s specialist sections comprise individuals appointed by name by the authorities of maritime administration bodies, institutions and enterprises as their representatives, thereby acquiring the status of the Centre’s experts on IMO matters.
Learn more about the Centre for IMO Affairs at PRS
POLAND’S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE IMO
To ensure the best possible communication, the IMO has asked Member States to designate the authorities or individuals through whom contacts between the IMO and individual governments would be conducted. Poland has designated its Permanent Representative to the IMO for this purpose, who is from 2026 Mr. Marcin Białek.
