Paul Farquharson, Bahamas high commissioner and permanent representative to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) paid a courtesy call on Koji Sekimizu, secretary-general of the IMO, in London at the end of last week.

The high commissioner was accompanied by Davy Rolle, director and chief executive officer of The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA), who presented the secretary-general with The Bahamas’ assessed contribution to the IMO for 2012.

As the fourth largest ship register in the world, The Bahamas’ annual assessed contribution is in excess of one million GBP sterling ($1.6 million), making The Bahamas one of the largest contributors to that United Nations organization.

The high commissioner and secretary-general spoke on a number of matters including the upcoming Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) Meeting and The Bahamas’ sponsored Green House Gas proposal paper, IMO Council Reform, and the safety of passengers on ships.

High commissioner Farquharson also took the opportunity to welcome the secretary-general to the post and wished him well for his term in office. Sekimizu was elected secretary-general of the organization by the 106th session of the IMO Council in June 2011, for an initial four-year period beginning January 1, 2012.

Left to right: Michael Guy, second secretary and vice consul; high commissioner Farquharson; Koji Sekimizu, secretary-general of the IMO; and Davy Rolle, director and CEO, Bahamas Maritime Authority. (Photo courtesy of BIS)