Vela International Marine Ltd, the shipping arm of Saudi Aramco, has been invited by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to join an industry task force, the Global Industry Alliance (GIA), to help promote marine bio-safety initiatives and ballast-water management. An inauguration ceremony was held recently at the IMO offices in London, where IMO Secretary General Efthimios Mitropoulos officially launched the GIA and presented Memorandum-of-Understanding (MoU) documents. “The Global Industry Alliance will see leading shipping companies and international organizations working together within the GloBallast Partnerships Project to promote ballast-water management and marine bio-security initiatives,” said Mitropoulos. “What is extremely pleasing,” he added, “is that some of the world's leading maritime companies — companies that have always taken a proactive approach to marine environmental issues and to the development of innovative and appropriate solutions — are teaming up with us to take the project forward. Their collaboration is a guarantee of success, not least because of the strong message this collaboration sends that, together, we can create a far broader awareness that a healthy and successful shipping industry has ramifications that reach far beyond the industry itself.” --MORE
