The IMO Assembly (A 33) has adopted a resolution commending outgoing IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim for his services over eight years.

The resolution on Appreciation of the Services to the Organization of Mr. Kitack Lim commends his leadership and the many achievements of IMO during the past eight years, including the landmark adoption of the 2023 Strategy on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships. The resolution notes, among other achievements, his tireless resolve to secure inter-agency collaboration for the development of appropriate responses to the humanitarian crisis impacting the well-being of seafarers caused first by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by geopolitical conflicts including the armed conflict in Ukraine.

In adopting the resolution, the IMO Assembly designated Mr. Kitack Lim as Secretary-General Emeritus of the International Maritime Organization with effect from 1 January 2024. A farewell event at IMO Headquarters (6 December) saw the launch of the IMO history book, “Safer shipping, cleaner seas – A celebration of 75 years of IMO”, an initiative of Secretary-General Lim.

To mark the conclusion of his tenure as IMO Secretary-General, a portrait of Kitack Lim was unveiled at a farewell event by His Excellency Mr. Yoon Yeocheol, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to IMO. Painted by marine artist Robert Lloyd, it will be displayed at IMO Headquarters, alongside the portraits of other former IMO Secretaries-General.

Those who paid tribute to Secretary-General Lim at his farewell celebration included Katy Ware, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to IMO, as host country to IMO; Víctor Jiménez Fernández, Chair of the IMO Council Alternate Permanent Representative of Spain to IMO; and Captain Ian Finley, Permanent Representative of the Cook Islands to IMO and President of the Maritime Attachés and Representatives Club.

After cutting a cake to mark the evening’s celebrations, Mr. Lim thanked all the Member States and Secretariat, along with industry and seafarer bodies, for their ongoing support throughout his tenure.

The final remarks came from incoming Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez Velasco, who takes over the position of Secretary-General on 1 January 2024. Mr. Dominguez acknowledged Mr. Lim would be a hard act to follow. The evening concluded with a pyrotechnic display on the IMO roof terrace.

Source: IMO