The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority, Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Mbiah, who doubles as the sixth Chair of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Legal Committee and the first black man to hold that position, has stepped down as Chair, after nearly two decades of service to the IMO.

There was uncharacteristically loud applauds and a standing ovation after he delivered his farewell address at the close of the 104th Session of the Legal Committee held at the IMO headquarters in London.

Touching on some achievements during his tenure, Dr. Mbiah said statistics show a decline in casualties, a significant drop in the number of pollution incidents and the waning of piratical attacks off the coast of Somalia.

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He challenged the Legal Committee to be proactive in anticipating gaps, examine the weaknesses in the existing international legal regime that threaten safe and secure navigation on clean oceans and use its legal mechanisms and expertise to forestall their occurrence where possible.

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Dr. Mbiah said the legal issues with respect to Polar navigation, Autonomous Vessels, Places of Refuge, Unsafe Mixed Migration at Sea and the use of alternative fuels in ships should continue to engage the attention of the Committee.

Distinguished delegates I cannot end this short address without telling my story. May be it will serve as footprints on the sands of time and encourage the young ones here with us today.

I do recall my days as a young and vibrant gentleman doing odd and menial jobs here in London to make ends meet. Sometimes it entailed doing three different jobs a day.

One of those jobs entailed the morning cleaning of offices. The offices I used to clean was and I believe still is, opposite this building across the River Thames.

Each morning, as the bus passed by the IMO building I observed the flags on the top of the building as they flapped in the breezy cold morning.

Each time I crossed the Lambeth Bridge, the dash of the frigid air on those wintery mornings made me look back at the flags. The colder the air, the stronger my determination to penetrate the walls of the IMO and to be a part of what goes on in there. At the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI), I did reconnect with the flags, the cold weather and the Lambeth Bridge, instilling in me an even greater determination to be a part of what goes on within these walls.

My association with IMO began in 1993 when I started leading the Ghana delegation to the Legal Committee meetings. I took time to observe the conduct of the meetings and began making avid contributions on the floor.

My peers recommended me for the position of vice chairman and I gladly accepted it. I served as vice chairman of our Committee for 11 years working with one of the best chair persons I have ever known. Mr. Alfred Popp. Together we worked with the Committee and the Secretariat to develop a number of conventions including the HNS, the revision of the Athens Convention, the Bunkers and SUA protocols amongst others. In those days, the Legal Committee met twice a year and it is my recollection that the chairs we sit on today were green in colour.

As a young lad making my contributions from the floor, I had always aspired to serve this august Committee from the podium. If for nothing at all, to give a taint of velvet black to a predominantly white podium.

It was therefore the fulfillment of a long held dream when you graciously elected me as Chair of this august Committee. I have served for six years and today I hand over the mantle believing that I played my part. I may not have lived up to the fullest of your expectations or served with piety and perfection but at least I gave it my best shot.

Time will not permit me to pay my tribute to the many who richly deserve it, but I also know that I cannot complete an address such as this without expressing appreciation to all those who lifted me onto this pedestal. Suffice to mention Mr. Alfred Popp, Dr. Rosalie Balkin, Mrs. Monica Mbanefo and Mr. Gaetano Librando for the significant contribution they made towards the progress of my work here at IMO.

My thanks and appreciation also go to the Government of Ghana for continuously supporting my candidature and sponsoring me to these meetings.

As I draw the curtains down to almost two decades of work at the IMO, I express most profoundly my gratitude to Mr. Fred Kenny, an epitome of a gentleman, Madam Dorota Lost-Sieminska, affable and hardworking, Mr. Jan De Boer, a longtime friend and companion, and all in the Legal Affairs and External Relations Division.

To distinguished delegates, it's been a privilege to work with you and to serve as your chair. My bounteous thanks goes to all distinguished delegates for your support and encouragement for without you this Committee would not have come this far.

To Mr. Volker Schofisch and Miss Gillian Grant our incoming pair of safe hands; when you sail through choppy waters and the clouds unfold their wings of strife, may your anchor hold and firm remain.

I cannot end without thanking our conference division and the interpreters without whom we could not have effectively communicated. To you all I say a big thank you.