International Shipping Federation/International Chamber of Shipping

International Chamber of Shipping & International Shipping Federation

I. Introduction
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Shipping
Federation (ISF) are sister organizations each with its own mission. Yet they have
essentially a common membership, speak with a common voice on trends in
shipping and on shipping policies, and share the same secretariat: Maritime
International Secretariat Services Limited (Marisec). However, there is a major
difference in their respective missions.
The ICS is the international trade association for merchant fleet owners
and operators from different nations, shipping sectors, and commodity and liner
trades. The membership of the ICS is made up of national shipowner associations,
who, in turn, represent ship owning and operating companies accounting for about
80% of the world’s merchant fleet. In 2021, full members were shipowner
associations in Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Faroe
Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan,
Korea, Kuwait, Liberia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines,
Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and US.
The following quote from the Australian shipowner association illustrates
their purpose:

Maritime Industry Australia Ltd (MIAL) is the voice and advocate for
the Australian maritime industry and is at the centre of industry
transformation; coordinating and unifying the industry and providing
a cohesive voice for change. MIAL represents Australian companies
which own or operate a diverse range of maritime assets from
international and domestic trading ships; floating production storage
and offloading units; cruise ships; offshore oil and gas support
vessels; domestic towage and salvage tugs; scientific research vessels;
dredges; workboats; construction and utility vessels and ferries.
MIAL also represents the industries that support these maritime
operators – finance, training, equipment, services, insurance and
more.

MIAL provides a full suite of maritime knowledge and expertise from

local settings to global frameworks. This gives us a unique
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perspective. We work with all levels of government and local and

international stakeholders ensuring that the Australian maritime
industry is heard. We provide leadership, advice and assistance to our
members spanning topics that include workforce, environment, safety,
operations, fiscal and industry structural policy.

MIAL’s vision is for a strong, thriving and sustainable maritime

enterprise in the region.

There are also associate memberships for nations without shipowner

associations, but who represents the interests of shipping companies, maritime
industries, maritime employers and others. Regional partners consist of shipping
organizations covering Asia and Europe. Most of the Board members are top
executives of large-sized shipping and associated maritime companies often
serving as heads of member shipowner associations.
A major focus of ICS activity is the deliberations of the International
Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations agency responsible for
international maritime policies and regulations. The ICS is heavily involved in a
wide variety of technical, legal, and operational matters affecting owners,
operators, and third-party ship managers of bulk carriers, tankers, passenger ships,
and container vessels.
The ISF is different in that its focus is in representing the interests of
merchant vessel owners as employers of seafarers. Since ICS has subsumed ISF
in 1990, ISF membership has the same as the ICS, whose members employ about
two-thirds of the world’s 1.4 million seafarers. For the last 80 years, the ISF has
played an influential role representing maritime employers in the development
and implementation and subsequent revision of the International Labor
Organization (ILO) maritime labor policies including the ILO Maritime Labor
Convention of 2006. The ISF has been actively involved in influencing the
development and subsequent amendments of the IMO Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention.
ISF strives for a regulatory environment that supports safe and secure ship
operations, provides for seafarers’ welfare, and protects the marine environment.
ISF advocates uniform adherence to internationally adopted standards and
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policies that pertain to maritime labor to ensure a level playing field for
international shipping. While the organization supports regulation of employment
practices and seafarers’ welfare at the international level, it opposes unilateral and
regional action by national or regional governments. The ISF presses for
recognition of the commercial realities of shipping and the role of seafarers and
maritime labor organizations to help maintain a viable industry.

ICS and ISF originally were operated and staffed on a part time basis by
the UK Chamber of Shipping and the British Shipping Federation. In 1990, the
Secretariats of ICS and ISF merged forming a new company Maritime
International Secretariat Services Limited (Marisec). Marisec is now owned by
ICS and exists to provide staff and secretariat services to ICS and ISF. Both are
now independent of the UK Chamber of Shipping, which still remains a member.
Marisec also provides secretariat services to the International Support Vessel
Owners Association (ISOA) and from time to time provides services to other
organizations.

II. Origins and Development

International Chamber of Shipping

The ICS was created in 1921 and acquired its current name in 1948, the
same year that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was established by
a United Nations treaty. The initial focus of IMO and ICS was developing
technical regulations related to the safety of life at sea (SOLAS Convention). In
1961 ICS was among the first non-governmental organizations to be granted
consultative status at the IMO. Since then, ICS has increasingly been involved
representing the international shipping industry’s views at IMO with a focus on
the regulatory framework of environmental, legal and insurance issues. In 2002,
ICS merged with the Council of European and Japanese Shipowners’
 International Shipping Federation/International Chamber of Shipping

Associations (CENSA), taking over responsibility for industry representation on

trade and shipping policy issues.

ICS advocates high standards of operation and a regulatory environment

that adheres to internationally adopted standards and procedures. Shipping is by
nature global and regulations that apply to a ship when it sails from one port
should apply equally when it arrives at another. The alternative to a global and
consistent set of maritime rules would be a chaotic web of local and regional rules
that would result in commercial disruptions and economic distortion of trade
patterns. ICS strongly advocates a global regulatory environment in which ships
can operate safely and efficiently under a single set of rules. The organization
promotes well-considered and formulated international regulation of shipping,
opposes unilateral and regional action by governments, presses for recognition of
the commercial realities in shipping and the need for quality operations to be
rewarded by a fair return on investment. The ICS cooperates with
intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations to carry out its mission as
depicted below.
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The national shipowner association members of ICS appoint

representatives to a variety of ICS committees. These committees are responsible
for monitoring and influencing policies on proposed international, regional or
national maritime regulations that affect global shipping. As a result of these
efforts, ICS provides guidance to its national shipowner associations, who, in
turn, advise their member shipping companies of international developments on
pertinent maritime matters. National shipowner associations also participate as
delegates at IMO and other international meetings alongside ICS.
ICS has played a major role in shaping the development, implementation,
and subsequent revisions of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the Marine
Pollution (MARPOL) Conventions, the International Safety Management (ISM)
Code, and the International Ship and the Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
Current areas of ICS interest include conventions and regulations pertaining to
atmospheric and oil pollution prevention, ballast water, cargo safety and vessel
security, ship classification, construction and recycling, safety and navigation, and
the competitive nature of shipping. Other areas of concern are flag state
performance, facilitation of custom and legal matters pertaining to the
international movement of cargoes, and marine insurance and liability matters.
Recent efforts have been focused on Covid, decarbonization or zero carbon
emissions of ship propulsion systems, and support for the World Maritime
University (www.wmu.se).
ICS publishes through Marisec, the joint secretariat of ICS and ISF. ICS
technical publications complement government publication of regulations and are
accepted sources of information for shipping companies and their crews.
Publications cover safety procedures for vessel operations, helicopter operations
and maritime security issues, and the safe carriage of petroleum, chemical, and
liquefied gas cargoes and the operation of their associated terminals and include
the ICS Bridge Procedures Guide, ICS/OCIMF/IAPH International Safety Guide
for Oil Tankers and Terminals (ISGOTT), ICS Tanker Safety Guide (Chemicals),
and ICS Tanker Safety Guide (Liquefied Gas). The following diagram shows an
overall picture of the ICS and its various committees.
International Shipping Federation/International Chamber of Shipping
 International Shipping Federation/International Chamber of Shipping

International Shipping Federation

ISF was created in 1909 to deal with issues concerning labor affairs,
manpower needs and training, and seafarers’ health and welfare. The organization
is actively engaged with the International Labor Organization (ILO), International
Maritime Organization (IMO), World Health Organization (WHO), International
Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare (ICSW), and the International Organization of
Employers (IOE). Additionally, ISF appoints representatives to expert
committees of various international maritime organizations responsible for
developing international labor policy of maritime employers. ISF is primarily
interested in industrial relations and training.
ISF is involved in representing global shipping industry’s views on issues
affecting maritime employers, employment and safety standards, industrial
relations, and implementation of maritime labor conventions. Other areas of
concern are health, safety and accident prevention, living and working conditions,
manning agency standards, manpower availability, port welfare, seafarers’ rights,
training and certification standards, wage cost information and work hour
regulations. ISF encourages good employment practices on board ships and
develops resources to assist ship operators in recruiting, training, and retaining
seafarers. The organization also provides publications covering guidelines for
manpower needs, good employment practices, ILO regulations, personnel training
including a proficiency test in English, compliance with security and safety
conventions, and standard labor contract forms.
ISF/ICS are members along with over 100 shipowning companies on the
International Maritime Employers' Committee (IMEC). IMEC was established
more than a half-century ago to regulate wages and conditions of employment on
behalf of shipowners hiring crews from the Indian Sub-Continent. IEC represents
240 shipping companies operating 12,500 vessels employing 300,000 seafarers
covered by 20 maritime labor agreements. It has since expanded its activities to
other seafarer-labor supplying nations. ISF and ICS have developed relationships
with other international organizations to share information and coordinate actions
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in order to avoid overlapping activities and duplication among these independent

organizations.
ISF, through the ILO, participates at meetings of the Paris Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) on Port State Control. This committee develops a
common set of policies on port state control including the conduct of ship
inspections within the Paris MOU region, which comprises 27 maritime
administrations in Europe and North America. Other maritime administrations,
while not official members, follow the Paris MOU policies. ISF is an active
member of the International Committee on Seafarers' Welfare (ICSW) and
maintains close contact with the International Transport Workers' Federation
(ITF). ITF represents the interests of transport workers including seafarers and
dockworkers through its member unions. ITF has been successful in enforcing
minimum wage standards of vessels calling on ports where ITF-member
dockworkers are employed. The dockworkers will only handle cargo of vessels
that are in compliance with ITF minimum seafarer wage standards (vessels
carrying the ITF Blue Certificate). The ISF provides information and guidance on
manpower developments and professional seafarer standards and a forum for
national shipowners and managers associations concerned over human resources,
seafarer training and welfare, and traditional employer related issues.
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ISF publications include Guidelines on Good Employment Practice, IMO

Maritime Labor Convention: a Guide for the Shipping Industry, Personal Training
and Service Records Books, and Training Record Books (for deck/engine cadets
and ratings). Additionally, software is provided for the ISF Marine English
Language Test and the ISF Watchkeeper for recording work hours.

III. Membership
ICS and ISF have a common membership of national shipowners associations.
National shipowners associations are primarily made up of merchant fleet owners
and operators of a distinct flag (e.g. Norwegian Shipowners Association, Greek
Shipowners Association). The shipowning and operating members of these
associations represent the bulk of the world merchant fleet.

IV. Organizational Structure

ICS Committees consist of representatives, experts in their respective fields,
nominated by national shipowners associations and individual shipping
companies. The main role of ICS Committees is to reach agreement on a
consensus viewpoint among its national shipowners association members to
 International Shipping Federation/International Chamber of Shipping

formulate an international policy and then reconcile different viewpoints that may
reside with the shipping sectors. This consensus is to be communicated and
represented effectively by ICS on behalf of the shipping industry.
The principal policy-making body in ISF is the Council made up of
representatives from the member national shipowners associations. The Council
meets twice a year under the Chairmanship of the President. The two principal
ISF Committees that report to the Council are the Labor Affairs Committee and
the Manning and Training Committee, both of which meet twice a year.

V. Financing
The ICS and the ISF is financed through its membership fees and sales of
publications and online training tools.

VI. The Role of International Chamber of Shipping/International Shipping

Federation in Transnational Economic Governance
The role of ICS/ISF within the transnational economic governance is to preserve
the UN Law of the Sea, provide security at sea of vessels and seafarers, and
maintain free trade. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) in 1982 formalized a long-recognized freedom of navigation for ships
sailing beyond a coastal state’s territorial waters. ICS focuses on maintaining the
balance between the rights of flag states and coastal states in instances where
freedom of the seas conflict with national sovereignty.
Since the terrorist attack in the United States in 2001, security at sea has
become a major concern resulting in the IMO-sponsored International Ship and
Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. ICS is involved with discussions with the
World Customs Organization (WCO) on the implementation of its SAFE
Framework for supply chain security, which may require revisions to the ISPS
Code. Furthermore, both ICS and ISF are concerned over the problem of piracy
and armed attacks on merchant vessels, a matter on the agenda of the UN Security
Council.
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Preserving free trade is a principal objective of ICS to ensure free access to

international shipping markets. ICS opposes regional and national measures that
may give unfair preference to domestic interests or distort international trade
patterns. Even though most of the international shipping markets are liberalized,
ICS still hopes to see current trade practices codified as part of the next WTO
agreement on trade in services since shipping is not currently covered by
multilateral trade agreements. ICS is also concerned with the proposal of the
European Commission to create a Common European Maritime Space (CEMS)
for trade between two EU countries. This will in effect redesignate an
international trade between two European nations as a domestic trade within the
European Union, which will have implications on international trade negotiations.

VII. Trends and Challenges

Trends and challenges that ICS faces are atmospheric pollution prevention, ballast
water management, cargo safety, classification standards, competition regulation,
flag state performance, facilitation of international trade documents, customs, and
insurance and marine liability issues. It is also involved with the International
Safety Management (ISM) Code implementation, maritime law and security
matters, navigation issues, oil pollution compensation, ship construction
standards, tanker, chemical, and gas carrier safety issues, ship recycling, and
shipping and trade policy. The challenges faced by ISF are coordinating and
representing the global shipping industry on trends and challenges concerning
employment standards, industrial relations, health, safety, and accident
prevention, living and working conditions. It is also concerned with manning
agency standards, seafarer’s rights, training and certification standards, manpower
supply, Maritime Labor Convention implementation, wage cost information, and
work hour regulations. ISF faces the additional challenge of inaugurating
programs that provide port welfare for seafarers and foster a safety culture on
board vessels. More recently attention is being paid to the effects of Covid on
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international shipping and in particular stranding of 400,000 seafarers plus plans

and actions to remove carbon from ship’s propulsion emissions.

Documents and Bibliography

https://www.ics-shipping.org

http://www.imec.org.uk

Contact

International Chamber of Shipping

7th Floor
Walsingham House
35 Seething Lane
London
EC3N 4AH
TEL: +44 20 7090 1460

Email: info@ics-shipping.org
Updated: 2021