ISF - 100 years old and still going strong

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Jan 2009

THE International Shipping Federation (ISF) is celebrating its 100th anniversary throughout this year, having been established as the principal international employers’ organisation for shipowners in 1909. To launch its Centenary, ISF has produced a special brochure highlighting the organisation’s achievements and identifying immediate priorities in the year ahead. These include: the promotion and implementation of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, expected to enter into force in the next two years the completion of the current International Maritime Organization (IMO) review of the STCW (seafarers’ training) Convention; as well as measures to increase the worldwide recruitment and training of the next generation of seafarers, in support of IMO’s ‘Go to Sea!’ campaign. At a special event at the ISF offices,in London today to start off the celebrations, ISF President, Spyros M Polemis, remarked: "The membership of ISF today comprises national shipowners’ associations from over 30 countries, which represent all sectors and trades of the shipping industry and about 75% of the world merchant fleet. The primary interests of ISF remain labour affairs and industrial relations, manpower and training, and seafarers’ welfare.” He added: ISF was amongst the first industry organisations to gain consultative status with the International Maritime Organization in 1961. In more recent years, ISF has also been very closely engaged with training standards, and has represented maritime employers at the major Diplomatic Conferences which adopted, and then radically revised, the IMO Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. Indeed, next week, ISF will be back at IMO leading employers’ input into the latest review of the STCW Convention." At the launch of the Centenary celebrations, ISF also gave an advance preview of a new international careers promotion film aimed at young people, and endorsed by IMO as part of its ‘Go to Sea!’ campaign. The DVD film, which will be translated into several languages, will be distributed free of charge via ISF's member national shipowners' associations in the next few weeks.  

Source: Maritime Global Net