IMO chief Dominguez gets Council nod for second term

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council has agreed to extend Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez’s mandate for another four years.

IMAGE: IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez at a press conference on the first day of MEPC 84 in London. Flickr of IMO

The decision was announced on 4 November during the Council’s 138th session in London and is now subject to approval by the IMO Assembly in 2027.

If approved, Dominguez will serve a second term from 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2031.

He became the IMO’s tenth Secretary-General in January 2024, after being elected by the Council in July 2023 and receiving Assembly approval in December the same year.

The Council’s decision comes ahead of MEPC 85, scheduled for 30 November to 3 December, where member states will consider proposals that could determine the future of the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework (NZF).

Dominguez called for multilateralism and consensus amid divisions over the framework at MEPC 84 in April.

“We are committed to the objectives set out in the 2023 GHG strategy. We are making progress on the areas where there is more common agreement and continuing the conversations on areas where there is still a difference of opinion,” he told ENGINE on the opening day of MEPC 84.

The divisions have persisted, with the EU and Pacific Island states supporting the adoption of the NZF approved in April 2025. The US and several other countries, including major oil-producing states, have called for significant revisions to its technical and economic provisions.

Proposals from Liberia, Tuvalu, Brazil and a four-country group comprising Australia, Canada, South Africa and the UK will be considered at the IMO’s intersessional GHG working group meeting (ISWG-GHG 23) from 23 to 27 November, ahead of MEPC 85.

Japan has also submitted a proposal, but it was not circulated within the six-month period required under MARPOL for adoption at MEPC 85.

If member states agree on a final text, the amendments could be formally adopted at the resumed extraordinary session (MEPC ES.2), provisionally scheduled for 4 December, subject to confirmation by MEPC 85.

By Konica Bhatt

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