IMIF MISSION STATEMENT

IMIF's position with regard to the current oversupply of ships, government subsidies, substandard ships and the need to improve maritime safety is well-known and long-established, as is the solution recommended - namely the removal of the overhang of surplus tonnage which, with the consequent rise in freight rates, can then justify proper investment in new "quality" ships.

While these remain IMIF's long-term objectives it is recognised that IMIF should also be monitoring changes in prevailing market conditions and noting the consequent emergence of yet other problems within the industry. At the same time it has been suggested that IMIF could usefully spend some time promoting a more positive image of the maritime industries worldwide.

There are a number of reasons for this.

1. The breadth of the IMIF membership stretches across virtually the whole maritime spectrum. It could be argued that each sector feeds off its fellow members, but that everyone gains from the flourishment of maritime industry in general.

2. There is no other organisation at all which might speak for all areas of the 'maritime industry', which is rightly regarded as hopelessly fragmented, and thus collectively weakened by the separate interests pursued by the separate constituents.

3. There is a need for a unified voice to speak out on areas which unite the whole industry, at a time when it really does sometimes appear that the industry will be marginalised through universal public apathy combined with the fact that the man in the street does not know anything at all about the world's 81,000 ships, nor how they are built, financed, insured and operated.

While it might seem reasonably uncontroversial to promote these aims, it should also be realised that IMIF will also have to tackle various underlying aspects of the industry, including the following:

1. While members of IMIF might agree that it is desirable that shipping should be safe, well run, reasonably rewarded and thus able to provide good employment for the builders, repairers and all the ancillary services, there is a substantial backing in the industry at large for the status quo. Some governments believe in 'cheap' shipping rather than their own national" shipping and this notion is shared by a large number of economies which depend heavily on ships of others to move their imports and exports around.
   
   

2. The international dimension of shipping is perhaps its hardest aspect. If shipbuilding is restricted to just a few countries, if seafaring manpower (and eventually the operation of ships) is restricted to the third world labour supplying nations, it becomes very difficult for countries not involved in any of these sectors to have any meaningful enthusiasm for the maritime industries.
   
   

3. The 'Image' of the industry will not be improved until there are more people not only better informed about it, but also more involved in it. There is clearly some mileage in making a public link between safety, quality, reward and environmental questions and the general health of the industry, but the public will need to be given specifics, not well-meaning abstract ideas.
   
   

4. Anyone trying to raise the profile of the maritime industries immediately comes up against all sorts of exceedingly awkward policy questions - Flags of convenience, tax dodging, brass plates, lack of transparency, exploitation of the third world seafarer, environmental criminals etc. It is not possible to point out the remarkable benefits to Society of the maritime industry without occasionally having to face such subjects. If the industry wishes to seek the esteem of the general public, then IMIF will have to confront these distasteful issues head-on.
   
   

These are the difficulties, but if IMIF is to pursue this as the way forward then none of them should he judged insuperable. At the same time resources are limited and much will depend on members being willing to help, without payment, or even to sponsor projects.

To this end IMIF commits itself to:

• promoting pride in the maritime industries
• becoming a centre of maritime information drawing upon the wide expertise of IMIF's members
• exposing/weeding out rogue elements in the maritime industries
• lobbying governments and maritime authorities directly and via the media to enforce existing regulations rather than to produce more
• unceasingly promoting a proper economic reward for all sectors of the maritime industries.

Would members who wish IMIF to speak out on particular issues please forward details, in writing, to the Secretariat, IMIF. The matter can then be placed before the appropriate committee for discussion prior to a statement being issued or other action being taken.