Denmark nominates Nordseth to head IMO
Denmark officially nominates Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority, Andreas Nordseth, for the job as Secretary General of the UN's International Maritime Organization, IMO.
When the election for the position of Secretary General of the IMO is announced later this year, Denmark will nominate Andreas Nordseth, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority, as candidate for the job.
The Secretary General election is expected to be officially announced in December 2014 and will be held in the IMO Council in June-July 2015.
Danish Minister for Business and Growth, Henrik Sass Larsen, describes Andreas Nordseth as a strong candidate for the job with many years' experience in the maritime field.
Solid experience
"The decisions taken by the IMO are of decisive importance to Danish and international shipping. The IMO must continue to promote quality shipping globally, while being capable of meeting the new challenges faced by the Organization. I have no doubt that Mr. Andreas Nordseth will be able to head the Organization in this work," says Henrik Sass Larsen:
"As Director General of a major maritime administration, which is responsible for a wide area of maritime issues, he has solid experience with international maritime affairs and the challenges met by the maritime industry, such as safety at sea and the promotion of business and growth."
Andreas Nordseth is 54 years old and has worked at the Danish Maritime Authority, under the Ministry for Business and Growth, since 1991. He was appointed Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority in 2009.
The IMO needs to elect a new Secretary General as Koji Sekimizu - who currently heads the organization - will resign at the end of 2015 in order to focus his attention on his wife, who is suffering from severe illness, he announced in a recent statement on the IMO's website.
In addition to Denmark, countries such as Mexico, Cyprus and Panama are expected to nominate candidates, according to media reports.
Anne Steffensen, Director General of the Danish Shipowners' Association, says that it makes perfect sense to have a Dane heading the IMO:
"This follows naturally from the fact that we are a global maritime nation, and we should be able to present a very qualified candidate. In the industry and in the shipowners' association, we have nothing but absolute and full support for a Danish candidate," she told ShippingWatch recently, before Andreas Nordseth's nomination had been made official.
"It would be very positive to have a Dane in that position, as the IMO's decisions can be of great significance to a quality shipping nation such as Denmark."
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