Introduction - Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Vessels - page 1

Chapter 1
Introduction

1.1 Introduction

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), as the specialised agency of the
United Nations, has been entrusted with the duty to provide machinery for
co-operation among governments for the prevention and control of pollution of
the marine environment from vessels. 1 The organisation was initially established as
the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO). It was known
as IMCO until 1982, when it was changed to IMO. The organisation is responsible
for drafting legal instruments, as well as for facilitating technical co-operation for
the protection of the marine environment. 2 This topic aims to examine the role of
IMO in preventing and controlling pollution of the marine environment from
vessels, with particular reference to the north-south tensions regarding the strategy
for prevention of marine pollution.
Control of marine pollution is a technically difficult and diverse area. This led to
the development of a large set of international conventions under the auspices of
IMO. Although IMO legal instruments are mainly targeted at the prevention of
pollution of the marine environment from vessels, there is a trend towards a liberal
interpretation of the term For

example, dumping of wastes and other matter is not a ship-generated pollution in a

pollution of the marine environment from vessels.

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