Tripartite Meeting Support IMO's Three Pillars of Sustainability

The Annual Tripartite meeting between shipowners, shipbuilders and classification societies was held in Tokyo, October 17-18, 2013.

The meeting unanimously welcomed the IMO theme for 2013 of 'a sustainable maritime transport system' and its recognition of the three pillars of sustainability; environmental, social and economic.

Furthermore, the Tripartite meeting emphasized that safety was the paramount objective of ship construction, classification and operation and in this regard agreed that safety was a key principle that underpinned each of the sustainability pillars. In this context, the Tripartite partners looked forward to an opportunity to emphasize the balanced inter-relationship between safety and the sustainability pillars and to work toward a regulatory process that requires an initial impact assessment at the earliest stages of development of a new regulation, to assess its potential consequences and benefits on safety, the environment, and economic and social issues.