By Peta-Gay Hodges
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Jamaica has been re-elected to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council, securing 129 votes, the highest number the country has ever received in an IMO Council election.
In an interview with JIS News from a meeting of the newly elected Council, in London, England, director general of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, Bertrand Smith, said Jamaica’s re-election to the IMO Council is a demonstration of the work the Maritime Authority of Jamaica has been doing.
“It speaks to our efforts in representing not only Jamaica, but the interests of the Caribbean and other member States at the IMO,” Smith said. “The upcoming biennium will provide challenges and opportunities, especially in relation to the transition towards decarbonisation,” he noted, adding that the MAJ will continue to provide leadership on behalf of the Caribbean and Small Island Developing States in the promotion of safe, secure, and environmentally sustainable shipping.
The re-election means that Jamaica will return to serve a ninth term in Category C of the IMO Council, which is the governing body of the IMO when the Assembly, which meets biennially, is not in session. The Council approves the work of the various committees, proposes the budget, appoints the Secretary General for the Assembly’s approval, and makes policy recommendations, including the IMO’s strategic plan.
Jamaica’s re-election to serve for another two-year term took place in November 2025 during the 34th session of the IMO Assembly at the IMO Headquarters in London.
Jamaica’s campaign efforts were led by a Steering Committee comprising the ministry of foreign affairs and foreign Trade, the Jamaican High Commission in London, the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, and the ministry of energy, transport and telecommunications.
The IMO Council is comprised of ten countries with the largest interest in providing international shipping services in Category A, ten states representing the largest interest in international seaborne trade in Category B, and 20 States not elected under Category A or Category B, which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world – Category C.
The newly elected Council convened at its 136th session in London on December 4, where it will elect its chair and vice chair for the next biennium.
