Governance
Assembly
This is the highest Organ of the Organization. It consists of all Member States and it meets once every two years in regular sessions, but may also meet in an extraordinary session if necessary. The Assembly is responsible for amongst others:
➔ taking any steps or procedures necessary to ensure that each Provider carries out its obligation of providing maritime mobile satellite communications services for the GMDSS, including approval of the conclusion, modification and termination of Public Services Agreements;
➔ appointing a Director General under Article 12 and removing the Director General;
➔ endorsing the budget proposals of the Director General, and establishing procedures for the review and approval of the budget;
➔ to consider and review the purposes, general policy and long term objectives of the Organization in the performance of the Organization’s role as LRIT Coordinator, and to take appropriate steps necessary to ensure that the Organization performs its role as LRIT Co-ordinator.
Rules of Procedure for the Assembly are available here: English, French, Russian, Spanish
All the documentation for meetings of the Assembly is available to accredited representatives of IMSO on the secure area of the website IMSO Docs.
Advisory Committee
At each regular session, the Assembly appoints an Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from a minimum of fifteen Parties and a maximum of preferably one-third of the total membership of the Organization, taking into account the need for full geographical representation and for continuity of membership. The Advisory Committee carries out, on behalf of and under delegation from the Assembly, the tasks set forth in the Terms of Reference approved at the fifteenth session of the Assembly, as revised from time to time.
Terms of Reference of the Advisory Committee are available here.
All the documentation for meetings of the Advisory Committee is available to accredited representatives to IMSO on the secure area of the website, IMSO Docs. Guidance on how to register on IMSO Docs and for IMSO meetings is available here.
In September 2022, the Assembly of Parties appointed the following 44 Parties to the Advisory Committee for the biennium 2023/2024 until the next ordinary meeting of the Assembly of Parties which will take place from 9 to 13 December 2024:
Algeria
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
Argentina
AUSTRALIA
BANGLADESH
BRAZIL
CAMEROON
CHILE
CHINA
CYPRUS
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
ECUADOR
FRANCE
GEORGIA
GERMANY
GHANA
GREECE
INDONESIA
IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF
IRAQ
ITALY
JAPAN
KENYA
LIBERIA
MALAYSIA
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MEXICO
MOROCCO
NIGERIA
PALAU
PANAMA
PERU
PHILIPPINES
POLAND
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
SAUDI ARABIA
SOUTH AFRICA
SPAIN
TÜRKİYE
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
UNITED STATES
VANUATU
Directorate
The Directorate, based in London, is the permanent body of the Organization. It is headed by the Director General, the legal representative of the Organization and Chief Executive Officer of the Directorate.
Mr Laurent Parenté
Director General, Republic of Vanuatu
Director General
The Director General is the legal representative of the Organization and Chief Executive Officer of the Directorate, appointed by and responsible to the Assembly. In September 2022, the twenty-eighth session of the Assembly elected Mr. Laurent Parenté to the post of Director General for a period of four years from 15 April 2023.
With almost 20 years of leadership experience in maritime safety, security and environmental protection, Mr. Parenté was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Vanuatu to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) since 2005 and IMSO since 2008, before which he was successively elected Vice-Chair and Chair of the IMSO Advisory Committee.
He was Vice-Chair and Chair of the IMO Technical Cooperation Committee from 2016 to 2023 and successfully led Vanuatu’s first candidature to the IMO Council elections for the biennium 2022-2023.
Mr. Laurent Parenté holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law, a Master’s degree in Law, a university degree in International Relations, and two postgraduate degrees in International Law and International Business and Negotiations.
Administrative Services Department
Ms. Nadia Temple
Head of Department, United Kingdom
Mr. Sipho Mbatha
Legal Officer, South Africa
Operational Services Department
Mr Halil Keskin
Head of Department, Türkiye
Mr Pier-Giovanni Taranti
Deputy Head of Department, Brazil
Mr. Philip Lane
Technical Officer, United Kingdom
