Director’s visit to Japan October 2023

Whilst visiting Japan for the purpose of hosting a joint seminar with the Japan Maritime Center (JMC) during the week of 16 October 2023,  the Director, Gaute Sivertsen, and Policy Officer, Yuji Okugawa, took the opportunity to hold meetings and visit the offices of several key stakeholders.  This included meetings with senior representatives of the MLIT, the Japan Coast Guard, the Petroleum Industry Marine Association of Japan (PIMA), the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ), the Japanese Shipowners’ Association (JSA), the Japan P&I Club and Tokio Marine.

Mr Sivertsen and Mr Okugawa were also pleased to be invited to visit the regional base of the Japan Coast Guard where its disaster prevention team remains on stand by to respond to incidents.

They were also able to meet informally with previous Secretariat members who had held the post of Legal Counsel/Officer in the past and with former Audit Body members.

Japan was one of the founding Member States of the original IOPC Fund back in 1978 and has actively supported the work of the organisation ever since, both through the Government and Industry, as one of the largest contributors.  It is both a 1992 Fund and Supplementary Fund Member State.

This visit enabled the Director to meet with existing key contacts, establish new connections and build on the strong cooperation between the IOPC Funds and Japan.