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International Chamber of Shipping

Field	Value
name	International Chamber of Shipping
formation	1921
type	International Trade Association
purpose	To represent national shipowner associations, and advise on international policy
headquarters	London, United Kingdom
region_served	Global
membership	80% world merchant tonnage
leader_title	Chairman
leader_name	Mr Emmanuel Grimaldi
main_organ	Marine Committee
affiliations	International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization, National Governments, Other Inter-Governmental Organizations
num_staff	30
website	http://www.ics-shipping.org

The International Chamber of Shipping is one of the world's principal shipping organisations, representing around 80% of the world's merchant tonnage through membership by national shipowners' associations. It is concerned with maritime regulatory, operational and legal issues. Its membership includes over 40 national shipowner organisations.

A major ICS activity is acting as a consultative body at the United Nations agency with responsibility for the safety of life at sea and the protection of the marine environment, the International Maritime Organization. ICS represents the global interests of all the different shipping trades in the industry, these include bulk carrier operators, tanker operators, passenger ship operators and container liner trades, including shipowners and third party ship managers.

ICS has consultative status with a number of other intergovernmental bodies which affect shipping, these include: the World Customs Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the World Meteorological Organization. The ICS also has close relationships with industry organisations representing different maritime interests such as shipping, ports, pilotage, the oil industry, insurance and classification societies responsible for the surveying of ships.

History

ICS was established in 1921.

In 2018, Guy Platten was appointed Secretary General of ICS. In June 2025, Thomas Kazakos was appointed Secretary General to replace Guy Platten.

In 2024, Emanuele Grimaldi was appointed Chairman and will serve is expected to serve in this role until June 2026. The next chairman elect will be John Denholm.

Location

In September 2021, the International Chamber of Shipping left office space near the Baltic Exchange in St Mary Axe and moved to Walsingham House near to Tower Hill.

Publications

The ICS is also responsible for several publications in use in the marine industry, in conjunction with Witherbys. In June 2020, ICS made its maritime publications available as e-books for the first time.

In response to IMO efforts to require cyber security to be addressed under the International Safety Management Code, in November 2019, together with BIMCO and the Witherby Publishing Group, ICS published the Cyber Security Workbook for Onboard Ship Use. The second edition of the nautical workbook was published in 2021.

In May 2020, ICS issued updated health guidance for the global shipping industry to ensure ship operators and crew can safely deal with seafarers struggling with medical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, ICS produced guidance on Maritime security with a publication entitled Maritime Security - A comprehensive Guide for Shipowners, Seafarers and Administrations.

In August 2022, in partnership with Witherbys and BIMCO, ICS issued a guidance title for the shipping industry on biofouling entitled Biofouling, Biosecurity and Hull Cleaning.

In 2023, together with the Witherby Publishing Group, the organisation released an updated version of the industry publication Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse On Board Ship. In 2024, the Chamber with Witherbys provided guidance to ships on managing the risks associated with stowaways and with rescue of displaced persons at sea. In 2025, they released an updated maritime security guide for shipowners and seafarers with Witherbys.

References

"International Chamber of Shipping = About".
Proshanto, K. (2013). "Farthing on International Shipping". Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
The Maritime Executive. (2024-05-10). "Head of ICS Shipping Lobby Guy Platten to Step Down in 2025".
(2025-06-17). "International Chamber of Shipping appoints new chairman".
The Maritime Executive. (2025-06-16). "New Leaders Replace Emanuele Grimaldi and Guy Platten at ICS".
"The Baltic Quarterly Journal - Summer 2011". Baltic Exchange.
"International Chamber of Shipping and Witherby".
"ICS makes maritime publications available as ebooks". Digital Ship Magazine.
"Book Review: Cyber Security Workbook for On Board Ship Use". Maritime Executive.
"How to ensure VSAT modems cannot be hacked". Riviera Maritime.
"ICS unveils new initiatives in shipping’s digitalisation". Ship Insight.
"Cyber Security Workbook". BIMCO.
"Global shipping body addresses the health concerns of seafarers during the Covid 19 pandemic". Hellenic Shipping News.
"ICS issues security guidance in new publication". ShipInsight.
"ICS: New guidance on maritime security". Marine Log.
"Biofouling, Biosecurity and Hull Cleaning, First Edition". Tanker Operator.
"Biofouling: A multi-layered ESG problem". [[Lloyd's List]].
(April 2023). "Latest edition of Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse On Board Ship published".
Zenic, Eda. (2024-12-18). "Maritime Security: Managing Risks of Stowaways and Rescues".
(2024-09-20). "Maritime Security: Managing Risks Associated with Stowaways and Rescued People at Sea".
(2024-12-17). "On the Bookshelf: Managing Risks of Stowaways on Vessels".
Baird, Dr Neil. (2025-05-16). "Maritime Security: A Comprehensive Guide for Shipowners, Seafarers and Administrators".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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