IMO postpones launch of 2012 World Maritime Day

IMO secretary-General Koji Sekimizu was due to outline the planned World Maritime Day activities scheduled to take place throughout the year, at IMO HQ in London. The theme is to focus on the Organization’s roots and raison d’être, i.e. safety of life at sea, IMO had stated earlier.

One of the consequences of the sinking, in 1912, of the Titanic, in which more than 1,500 people lost their lives,  was the adoption, two years later, of the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (the SOLAS Convention).  The 1914 version of the Convention was gradually superseded, respectively, by SOLAS 1929, SOLAS 1948, SOLAS 1960 (the first adopted under the auspices of IMO, then known as IMCO) and SOLAS 1974.  SOLAS 1974 is still in force today, amended and updated many times.

IMO states it will re-arrange the launch for a later date.