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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Safety at Sea

The CMI is coming up on its 110th anniversary.

About 9 years ago I was privileged to be a U.S. alternate delegate to the 100th anniversary meeting of the CMI in Antwerp, Belgium. I loved it. It was a gathering of the 500 or so most erudite maritime lawyers in the world and the level of exchange was thrilling. The proceedings were conducted in French and English, occassionally in Flemish (after all, we were in Belgium), but surprisingly I was able to follow what was going on no matter what the language was. I was even permitted to address the group even though I was only an alternate delegate.

Prior to the mid-1970's most international conventions concerning maritime trade and commerce originated in the Comite Maritime Internationale (International Maritime Committee or simply the "CMI.") It was founded in 1898, and it I was responsible for the drafting of numerous international conventions including the Hague Rules regarding Bills of Lading) the Visby Amendments, the Salvage Convention and many others. While the CMI continues to function in an advisory capacity, many of its functions have been taken over by the International Maritime Organization, and arm of the U.N. The IMO was established by the United Nations in 1958 but which didn't become truly effective until about 1974.

The IMO has prepared numerous international conventions concerning maritime safety including the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS), the Standards for Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW), the Collision Regulations (COLREGS), Martime Pollution Regulations (MARPOL), Maritime Search and Rescue Convention (SAR) and others.

In light of the fact that the functions previously performed by the CMI (for free, by the way) have now been taken over by an inter-governmental organization (at taxpayer expense), the question must be asked, Is the CMI still relevant? Is it now just a social gathering of maritime lawyers?

If you'd like to learn more about CMI, here is their link: http://www.comitemaritime.org/