Exhibition to mark 50 years of government and industry working together now open at IMO

An exhibition to mark 50 years of government and industry working together to address the risk of oil pollution from ships was officially opened by the Secretary-General of IMO, Mr Kitack Lim, the Director of the IOPC Funds, Mr José Maura and the Managing Director of ITOPF, Dr Karen Purnell at IMO on 16 January 2017.
The three organisations have collaborated with other industry organisations to produce this exhibition and mark the achievements of the international community over the past 50 years to achieve a dramatic and sustained reduction in major oil spills from ships; to establish effective systems for preparedness and response in case of incident; and to create a comprehensive mechanism for providing compensation.
Fifty years ago, the grounding of the Torrey Canyon focused the world’s attention on the risks and environmental impact of major marine oil spills. It became a catalyst for positive change resulting in the introduction of a comprehensive regulatory framework, safer shipping, improved preparedness and response and adequate compensation. Notably, it prompted the development of the international liability and compensation regime and therefore the establishment of the IOPC Funds.
The exhibition includes a timeline from pre-1967 to the present day covering key developments in prevention, preparedness, response and liability and compensation. It also includes historical film footage on early tankers, information on the future of shipping, a small collection of artefacts and filmed interviews with the heads of IMO, IOPC Funds and ITOPF. Details of the nine co-sponsoring organisations can be found here.
The launch event was attended by delegations represented at the meeting of the IMO Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response and a wide range of external guests from the oil spill and shipping community. A selection of images from the event is available here.
The exhibition is expected to remain on display at the IMO building in London until July 2017. For further information please see here.