Efthimios Mitropoulos, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN agency concerned with maritime safety and security and prevention of marine pollution from ships, is to pay a three-day visit to the Kingdom beginning tomorrow, according to a source at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). In Riyadh, Mitropoulos will be meeting a number of senior officials in the government and the maritime industry including the minister of transport, and Saudi Ports Authority. In Dammam, the next day, he will visit the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Aramco, and King Abdul Aziz Port. On Tuesday, he will visit the Jeddah Islamic Port, and meet shipping agents, port contractors; coast guard and JCCI officials at the chamber headquarters, according to a report published today by Arab News. He is also slated to meet officials of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment as IMO is concerned with marine environment and has as its mission 'safer shipping, cleaner oceans.'
