IMO secretary general to visit Bangladesh

Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Koji Sekimizu will pay a five-day visit to Bangladesh, to observe the Bangladesh Maritime Training Institute, ship breaking yards and Western Marine Ship Yard at Chittagong.
Koji, who was elected the IMO secretary general on June 2011, will travel to Bangladesh on June 25 and continue his visit till June 29.
Confirming the IMO secretary general’s visit, AKM Fakhrul Islam, the chief engineer at Directorate of Marine Transport, confirmed Koji’s probable schedule to the Dhaka Tribune.
“He will watch the existing facilities in Bangladesh’s shipping sector and give directions for further improvement in the sector,” Fakhrul Islam said.
The secretary general will visit Dhaka’s Sadarghat Launch Terminal to see the passenger transporting system.
Bangladesh is currently a category-B member of the IMO council along with nine other countries in the world.
According to officials at the Directorate of Marine Transport, the IMO council has 40 member countries under three different categories, namely, A, B, and C.
Category A and B have 10 members each while category C has 20 members. The IMO has a six-member standing council.
Fakhrul added, the IMO general will lead a delegation including its South Asia regional director.
“The shipping sector of the world is being monitored by IMO. The visit of IMO secretary general is much significant for our shipping industry as it will help the country get international technical assistance,” he said.
“The demand and salaries of Bangladeshi sailors abroad will increase following the visit,” Fakhrul said.
Source: Dhaka Tribune