Shipping | Minna Kivimäki is a candidate for Secretary General of the UN Maritime Organization

of the UN the international maritime organization IMO will elect a new secretary general on Tuesday of the week starting. This time, Finland has its own candidate for the position, the chief of staff of the Ministry of Transport and Communications Minna Kivimäki.

The goal of Finland and Kivimäki is to influence the future direction and development of the shipping industry.

“There are years ahead when there will be a lot of big systemic changes in shipping,” Kivimäki told STT.

Both climate change and technological development are revolutionizing the industry. At the same time, we should ensure the safety of shipping and guarantee that shipping attracts new investments. In addition, we need a good workforce that can take advantage of the opportunities offered by new technology.

“New fuels and new technology require new skills”, Kivimäki stated.

IMO’s role has been to act as a global regulator, ensuring that the rules are consistent everywhere.

Kivimäki says that, like many other industries, shipping will also have to compete for new labor in the coming years, so securing the social conditions of the labor force is important. There would also be room for women to become seafarers.

“Maritime has its own challenges, and the industry has been seen and experienced as a pretty tough place to work. It can also be seen in the fact that the number of women in the industry is two percent worldwide. Potential workforce has been excluded,” Kivimäki said.

Secretary General the choice is made by the 40 members of the IMO Council member country. There are seven candidates, and new rounds are held in the closed ticket voting until one of them gets more than half of the votes. Each country has one vote, whether it’s the United States or Vanuatu.

Tuesday’s vote could lead to breaking the glass ceiling at the IMO. In addition to Kivimäki, there are two other female candidates, Dominica Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry and Kenya Nancy Karigithu.

The other candidates for Secretary General represent Bangladesh, Turkey, Panama and China. The result of the vote has not been announced in the church, as the members of the council do not usually announce their choice publicly.

The current Secretary General is South Korean Kitack Limwhose term of office ends at the end of the year.

“A tough competition is coming, seven candidates from different parts of the world. Very different backgrounds, but very competent people”, Kivimäki assesses the field of candidates.

Kivimäki does not assess his own chances. There will be several rounds.

“This will be an exciting and tight vote,” he said.

Whether there was victory or not, Kivimäki said he was satisfied with how Finland’s messages and priorities for the development of the IMO and shipping had been made visible.

“In any case, this has been a positive experience”, thanked Kivimäki.

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In addition to Kivimäki, two other female candidates are running.

In the process when Kivimäki is running for the position of secretary general, Finland is also a candidate for IMO council member. The 40-member council has quota seats for major shipping countries, such as China, the United States, Russia, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Panama, Norway and Sweden.

20 of the council’s seats are reserved for changing member countries around the world. These members are elected in the fall at the UN General Assembly.

Specialized in shipping Lloyd’s List – magazine, Kivimäki has got most of the EU countries behind his candidacy. The exception is Greece, which has flagged for the Turkish candidate.

In his civil service career, Kivimäki has worked in the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Finland’s EU mission. He was elected head of the ministry’s office in 2021.

Correction 16.7. 19:56: Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry is the candidate of Dominica, not the Dominican Republic.