As elected President of IMSML for year 2022, I was given the honour to attend the Comité Maritime International Assembly and Conference 2022 in Antwerp, Belgium from 18 th to 21 st October 2022 (CMI Conference 2022).
IMSML represents Malaysia as one of the national maritime law associations which are members of the Comité Maritime International (CMI). Ever since its formation in 1897, CMI has worked to promote the uniform application of international maritime law through the establishment of national maritime law associations and cooperation with other international organisations. CMI has adopted a number of international treaty instruments to regulate global shipping including amongst others the 1910 Collision Convention which established the rules for legal liability arising from collisions of ships at sea, and the 1910 Salvage Convention.
Antwerp was aptly chosen as the venue of CMI Conference 2022 as it is the birthplace of CMI and it was also held in conjunction with the 125th anniversary of CMI, in celebrating years of commitment and excellence to the development of maritime law.
Themed “Celebrating 125 Years of Promoting Uniformity of Maritime Law”, it was a much-awaited event held after the pandemic that affected travelling in most parts of the world and which also led to the postponement of the initially planned conference that was scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan in 2020.
CMI Conference 2022 turned out to be a successful and well organised event that brought together about 400 delegates from various maritime nations across the world. The Conference program was lined up with meetings of international working groups and standing committees of the CMI in various locations throughout Antwerp city which for the first time was opened for delegates to attend, concurrent streams of sessions on various topics including Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS), Container Security, Offshore Activities, Cybercrime in Shipping, Judicial Sale of Ships, Maritime Law & Refugees, Marine Insurance, General Average, Unified Interpretation of the Test for Breaking Limitation, Polar Shipping , Maritime Law Issues in Courts and Fair Treatment of Seafarers and also a Breakfast Meeting hosted by the CMI President for the presidents of all national maritime law association members of the CMI.
Delegates were also invited to attend several social events organised everyday throughout the Conference which provided a wonderful networking opportunity for everyone. Starting with the walk through the historical CMI HQ and the Eugène Van Mieghem museum on the 1 st day, followed by the “Welcome on board!" toast with champagne and oyster bar at La Riva, a Welcome reception on the 2nd day at the beautiful Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp (Amaryllis), a formal Gala dinner at the ancient Room Verlat Marble Hall adjacent to the famous Antwerp Zoo on the 3 rd day and finally a Farewell Cocktail at the Felix Pakhuis.
On the last day of the Conference, delegates congregated in the main Queens Elizabeth Hall for the CMI General Assembly to elect the new Executive Council of CMI, Dr. Ann Fenech from Malta was elected as the first-ever female President of the CMI. A well-deserved role indeed as Dr Ann Fenech had played an instrumental role in representing the CMI as the chief co-ordinator for the CMI Working Group at UNCITRAL which was deliberating and working on the CMI Beijing Draft on the Convention of Judicial Sales of Ships. In June 2022, the Commission approved the draft convention and the convention is now before the General Assembly of the United Nations for adoption.
For me personally, it was a wonderful and unique opportunity to meet with other like-minded people and exchange views with prominent and knowledgeable colleagues in the maritime field from various maritime nations, to learn from their experiences, to gain knowledge from all the sessions and getting first hand updates of the latest developments in maritime law. Of particular interest to me was the Convention on Judicial Sale of Ships which I would hope and endeavour to see being adopted and ratified by many maritime countries including Malaysia.
As a member of CMI, IMSML has an important role to play in steering the path for Malaysia to be a part of the uniform application of international maritime laws which is essential to grow Malaysia into an internationally recognised, respectable and developed maritime nation.
Wan Hilwanie Ariff
President
IMSML