INTERCARGO’s semi-annual and Annual General meetings took place in Singapore last week for the first time since 2018. Members joined together both virtually and in person to review the Association’s achievements to date and to determine policy and priorities for the future.

On the occasion of the meetings, INTERCARGO Chairman Dimitrios Fafalios expressed his delight that INTERCARGO had, again, been able to conduct its meetings in Asia: “Our Association is the voice of the world’s quality dry cargo shipowners, managers, and operators around the world,” he said.

“More than 50% of the world fleet is now operated from Asia, and it is essential we recognise the importance of the region to the dry bulk sector. It has been invaluable to be able to engage face-to-face with our local members and listen to their concerns first-hand. This has been all the more important when we consider the restrictions that we have all faced during the pandemic and the experiences that we share, he added.”

The meetings were presided over by INTERCARGO Chairman Dimitrios Fafalios, Vice Chairman Spyros Tarasis, Vice Chairman Uttam Kumar Jaiswal, and Technical Committee Chairman Tom Keenan.

In a packed agenda, members discussed the situation in Ukraine, quality standards in the bulk sector, safety, GHG emissions’ reduction and decarbonisation ambitions, as well as ongoing operational issues’ experiences by the sector. Also, the Association revisited important membership matters to promote its growth and the badge of quality afforded by INTERCARGO membership.

Dimitris Fafalios commenting on the Association’s 2021/2022 Annual Review (available here ) said: “Following a turbulent period, dry bulk operators now find themselves dealing with the situation in Ukraine, the legacy of COVID and of course the incorporation of IMO’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets into everyday ship operations.

“The Association’s endeavours to improve safety at sea are, however, bearing fruit, and we are able to report good news with statistics of ship losses and consequential seafarer fatalities suggesting that the safety performance of the bulk carrier industry is showing a strong and clear trend of improvement,” he said.

The Association has also created a special electronic compilation of promotional material from its members, which is available on a dedicated webpage here.

Elections: Chairman Dimitrios Fafalios, Vice-Chairman Spyros Tarasis and Vice-Chairman Uttam Kumar Jaiswal, as well as Technical Committee Chairman Tom Keenan and Technical Committee Vice-Chairman Dimitris Monioudis were re-elected for a two-year term from 1st January 2023.