London (AFP) – The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) decided to support the renewal of the mandate of its secretary general, Panamanian Arsenio Domínguez, for a second four-year period, the organization dependent on the UN, based in London, announced this Thursday.

First modification: 05/11/2026 - 19:39

In its statement, the IMO indicates that the president of the Council, the Spanish Víctor Jiménez, will support the renewal of the Panamanian's mandate for the period between January 1, 2028 and December 31, 2031.

The decision on a second term for Arsenio Domínguez must be submitted to the approval of the IMO Assembly, when it meets at the end of 2027.

"I am deeply grateful to the members of the Council and to all the member countries of the organization for the trust and support they continue to place in me," Domínguez declared after the Council's initiative.

"I remain committed to following their guidance and contributing to our collective efforts in support of global shipping and seafarers," he added.

Domínguez is the tenth Secretary-General of the IMO and was elected by the IMO Council, made up of 40 member countries of the organization, in July 2023, for a four-year term that began on January 1, 2024 and ends on December 31, 2027.

His election was then approved by the IMO Assembly, held in December 2023.

There are precedents for a period of at least eight years at the head of the IMO. The most recent are the cases of the Greek Efthimios Mitropoulos, from 2004 to 2011, and the South Korean Kitack Lim, from 2016 to 2023.

The Secretary General of the IMO can serve a maximum of two terms of four years each.

The IMO, according to the organization's own definition, is a UN institution in charge of ensuring the safety of maritime transport and preventing pollution of the seas.

"We have been working for more than ten years to improve the energy efficiency of ships and last year we achieved the unanimous adoption of the strategy for the decarbonization of the maritime industry around 2050," said the first Spanish-speaking secretary general of the IMO, in an interview with AFP in February 2024, shortly after taking office.

© 2026 AFP

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.