A new secretary-general has been installed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and has announced the members of his leadership team.
Arsenio Dominguez became the 10th elected Secretary-General of IMO on Jan. 1. Dominguez, who’s from Panama, succeeded Kitack Lim of South Korea, who was IMO Secretary-General from 2016-2023.
Dominguez was confirmed by the IMO Assembly 33rd session, which met in November-December 2023. His initial term is four years, ending Dec. 31, 2027.
Dominguez had been director of the IMO’s Marine Environment Division, a post he’d held since January 2022. He joined the IMO Secretariat in 2017 as Chief of Staff to the Secretary-General. In 2020, he was appointed director of the organization’s administrative division.
His maritime career began in 1996 as a port engineer at Armadores del Caribe in Panama, then becoming a drydock assistant manager at Braswell Shipyard.
On Jan. 8, Dominguez named the members of his Senior Management Committee. They are:
- Director of Administrative Division –Azara Prempeh.
- Director of Maritime Safety Division –Hiroyuki Yamada.
- Director of Legal Affairs and External Relations Division – Dorota Lost-Sieminska.
- Director of Marine Environment Division –Heike Deggim.
- Director of Technical Cooperation Division –Jose Matheickal.
- Director of Conference Division –Xiaojie Zhang.
- Chief of Staff – Damien Chevallier
In a message after taking his position, Dominguez pledged to build on IMO’s successes and achieve more.
“With me as the 10th Secretary General, I welcome you to join us in an era of progression of the organization, one that leads by example and with higher values from inclusion, diversity, and transparency,” he said. “I look forward to working with you for the years to come into a new and exciting era to make this maritime sector a much better one.”