Panama’s Arsenio Dominguez elected next IMO Secretary-General

Arsenio Dominquez of Panama has been elected Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) following a fourth round of voting today, July 18.

The four-year term will begin January 1, 2024, subject to the Assembly’s approval.

The 52-year-old Dominguez, who secured 21 of the of the IMO Council’s 40 votes in the final round, will replace South Korea’s Kitack Lim who has held the post for the past eight years.

Turkey through Suat Hayri Aka, and Finland via Minna Kivimaki received 11 and eight votes respectively.  

In his manifesto, Dominguez said the “IMO must pioneer more targeted technical cooperation, backed by metrics, for coordinated support across workstreams.”

What’s more, he intends to ensure the IMO is led by data. “We will use data and insight from the Member State Audit Scheme to inform our response, tailor project delivery and help us provide a more strategic level of support to implement IMO instruments.”

Dominguez worked with the Panama Maritime Authority from 1998, where he simultaneously engaged the IMO for 24 continuous years, until he formally joined the IMO Secretariat as chief of staff in 2017. In that role, he worked closely with the outgoing Lim to provide support and advice on the organization’s agenda.

He was later appointed Director of the Administrative Division in March 2020, before being named Director of the Marine Environment Division in January 2022.

At a time when the IMO faces numerous challenges to its mandate, Dominguez said, “I’m not afraid of disrupting things a little bit to actually get change”, in an interview following his election.

He will face several tests throughout his tenure as the IMO continues to maneuver the industry’s digitalization and decarbonization, among other issues.