Honorary Baltic Exchange Life Membership For IMO Secretary-General
International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos was awarded honorary life membership of the Baltic Exchange yesterday (Tuesday 6 July) in recognition of his services to the shipping industry.
Mr Mitropoulos has served as IMO Secretary-General since 2004 and previously served as head of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Division for twelve years.
Making the award, Chairman of the Baltic Exchange Mark Jackson, said:
“Your period as Secretary-General has been marked not just by your skilful management of the complex environmental and other issues confronting shipping as an industry, but also by a deep empathy and concern for all those who go down to the sea in ships, as well as their families.”
Under his leadership, IMO has pushed forward a strong environmental and safety agenda with successes in numerous areas including the MARPOL extension, phasing out single hull tankers and more recently securing successful agreements on emissions controls.
Mark Jackson added: “We know that your greatest challenge still lies ahead – which is to find a global, IMO-led solution to carbon emissions from ships. This solution needs to be both economically sensible for shipping and trade as well as meaningful for the environment.”
The Baltic Chairman confirmed that Mr Mitropoulos would have the full backing of the Baltic in his efforts to tackle carbon emissions from shipping and to ensure that the leadership of IMO on all matters related to international ocean transportation remains undiluted.
Receiving his award Efthimios Mitropoulos said:
“As a student of history and a lover of all things maritime, I cannot tell you what a genuine privilege it is for me to be received in this, one of the most prestigious temples of international shipping, in the City of London, where the heart of the industry beats stronger than in any other maritime centre of the world; and to have this Honorary Life Membership of the Baltic Exchange conferred upon me. It puts me in the most elevated of company of richly deserving former recipients of the highest stature and is an honour for which I am extremely grateful and very appreciative.”
Also present at the lunch were the UK Minister of Shipping Mike Penning, Intercargo Chairman Nicky Pappadakis and Efthimios Mitropoulos’ son Elias.
Previous recipients of Baltic Exchange life membership awards have included Sammy Ofer (2009), the Duke of Edinburgh (1953), Winston Churchill (1954), and Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller (1991).