IMO officially appoints new chief

Velasco was appointed at the recent IMO assembly in London, and will start his new position on 1 January 2024.

Velasco began his maritime career in 1996 as a port engineer in Panama, then became a dry dock assistant manager. In 1998 he moved to London with the Panama Maritime Authority as head of the technical and documentation regional office for Europe and North Africa.

Since then he has represented Panama in a number of positions and has chaired the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection committee, the Technical Committee of the 25th sentence session of the IMO assembly, and the Maritime Security – Piracy and Armed Robbery Working Group.

Velasco has also studied naval architecture in Mexico, graduating in 1995.

Outgoing IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim, from South Korea, has actually served the maximum two terms as the IMO chief.