Jamaica celebrates 50 years of IMO membership

Jamaica this week marked 50 years of membership in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), with Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith stressing that shipping underpins global supply chains in everyday commerce and in times of crisis.

Delivering the keynote at Tuesday’s opening ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary, she reaffirmed the island’s commitment to the body. The event was held under the theme “Jamaica and the IMO: 50 Years Advancing Safe, Secure and Sustainable Shipping”.

“For 50 years, the IMO has been a platform through which Jamaica has contributed, learned, and led. As we look ahead, our resolve is unchanged: to champion the interests of small island developing states and the value of multilateralism, to uphold global maritime standards, and to protect our shared oceans. May the next 50 years of Jamaica’s partnership with the IMO be marked by collaboration, innovation, and sustainable progress for all,” Johnson Smith said.

She pointed to several milestones since Jamaica presented its Instrument of Acceptance to the IMO Convention on May 11, 1976. Among them was the establishment of the Jamaica Maritime Training Institute — now the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) — in partnership with Norway in 1980. It remains the only IMO-accredited tertiary institution in the English-speaking Caribbean, offering a range of degree programmes.

Another was the passage of the Shipping Act in 1998, which modernised maritime legislation and created the Maritime Authority of Jamaica as the sector’s chief regulator and the body responsible for implementing IMO conventions. In 2002, the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control was relocated to Jamaica, strengthening oversight, encouraging compliance with international conventions, and helping to eliminate substandard shipping across the region.

“We have ratified and implemented the principal IMO Conventions governing maritime safety, security, pollution prevention, and labour standards, supported by a strong legal and administrative framework. Jamaica’s active international involvement has facilitated deliberate and strategic maritime progress both locally and regionally,” Johnson Smith said.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Transport and Telecommunications Kedesha Campbell Rochester underscored the sector’s centrality. More than 80 per cent of Jamaica’s imports and exports, she noted, move by sea, including energy supplies, vehicles, essential goods and raw materials for manufacturing and export.

She highlighted the IMO’s role in maintaining safety and security in shipping while limiting marine and atmospheric pollution. “For island states such as Jamaica, whose prosperity is deeply tied to the blue economy, a safe, secure, and sustainable maritime transport system founded on international standards is not optional but essential,” she said.

Campbell Rochester added that the ministry is revising the National Transport Policy to align more closely with these global standards, reinforcing Jamaica’s adherence to IMO benchmarks.