IMO kicks off two-year global campaign to put maritime 'policy into practice': Why it matters

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Wednesday announced that it had launched a two-year global campaign aimed at translating its maritime regulatory framework into concrete actions and real-world results.

Titled '‘From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence’, which is also the theme for World Maritime Day 2026-27, the campaign calls on governments, port authorities, and industry bodies to ensure that the IMO's safety and environmental standards are applied “in every port and on every deck”, rather than letting them remain only on paper.

“When we talk about ‘practice’, we are talking about people. The seafarers on the ship; the people in the port; those managing ship operations, ship recycling workers, port State control officers and flag State administrators,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said, in a video message marking the launch.

“To make the maritime industry truly sustainable, we must ensure these high standards are felt in every port and on every deck - not selectively, not unevenly, but globally. IMO is committed to powering this transition through technical cooperation and direct support,” he added.

The IMO's campaign to bridge the gaps between its member states' maritime laws and the actual enforcement of these laws is based on nine central objectives.

This includes capacity development and technical cooperation, tailored support for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), boosting regulatory readiness for decarbonisation, cracking down on fraudulent registrations, and strengthening audit-driven improvement and ocean protection measures beyond emissions.

To that end, the IMO Secretariat plans to roll out a two-year action plan, which includes events and outreach activities, knowledge products, partnership programmes and social media engagement to promote the World Maritime Day theme.

As part of the campaign, IMO's Member States and observer organisations are encouraged to organise events and activities throughout the 2026-2027 period and inform the Secretariat of their planned activities. Sharing insights from these events on social media next is also encouraged, using the hashtags '#WorldMaritimeDay' and '#MaritimePolicytoPractice'.