On May 31, 2023, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia deposited the instrument of ratification of the amendments to the International Maritime Organization Convention for 2021, which were approved at the thirty-second session of the International Maritime Organization Assembly, in which Royal Decree No. (M / 104) dated 3/7/1444 AH was issued.

The Acting Delegate of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the International Maritime Organization, Ms. Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al-Yabis, met with the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, Mr. Kitak Lim, to deposit the instrument of ratification of the amendments to the convention and discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the International Maritime Organization.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the fourteenth Member State out of 175 organisation member states to ratify the amendments. This step reflects the great interest regard that the Kingdom attaches to international cooperation and its keenness to contribute to reforms and achieve the goals stipulated in the International Maritime Organization Convention.

The amendments will contribute to increasing the number of member states of the International Maritime Organization Council from 40 members to 52 members and extending the Council’s membership term from two to four years. The amendments will also allow the textual equality of the agreement in the Arabic, Chinese and Russian languages with English, Spanish and French.

Amendments shall be enforced for all IMO member states upon their adoption by more than two-thirds of the IMO member states. Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, Finland, Honduras, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have accepted amendments.

Source: Saudi Press Agency