Russia lost its re-election bid to the ruling council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Friday.
Other member states encouraged Liberia, the world’s largest shipping flag, to launch a rival bid to win a seat in the top category A part of the council with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky also exhorting members via video link to not vote for Russia.
The council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible for supervising the work of the organisation. The 10 states in the top tier of the council for the coming two years are China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Norway, Panama, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The newly elected council will meet this Thursday for its 131st session and will elect its chair and vice-chair for the next biennium.
