A Japanese official with extensive maritime industry experience will be the next head of the United Nations agency responsible for the security and safety of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution. Koji Sekimizu, 59, will take over from Efthimios E. Mitropoulos as Secretary-General of the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) as of 1 January 2012. He will initially serve a four-year term. The vote took place during the 106th session of the 40-Member strong IMO Council, which is meeting from 27 June to 1 July 2011. The decision of the Council will be submitted to the IMO Assembly, which meets for its 27th session from 21 to 30 November 2011, for approval. From IMO & UN News Sources) Mr. Sekimizu, 58, is currently Director of IMO’s Maritime Safety Division. Mr. Sekimizu studied marine engineering and naval architecture and joined the Ministry of Transport of Japan in 1977, working initially as a ship inspector and moving on to senior positions in both maritime safety and environment related positions within the Ministry. He began attending IMO meetings as part of the Japanese delegation in 1980 and joined the IMO Secretariat in 1989, initially as Technical Officer, Sub-Division for Technology, Maritime Safety Division, becoming Head, Technology Section in 1992, then moving to become Senior Deputy Director, Marine Environment Division in 1997 and Director of that Division in 2000, before moving to his current position in 2004. The other candidates for the post were: Mr. Lee Sik Chai (Republic of Korea) Mr. Andreas Chrysostomou (Republic of Cyprus} Mr. Neil Frank Ferrer (Republic of the Philippines) Mr. Jeffrey Lantz (United States of America) Mr. Esteban Pacha Vicente (Kingdom of Spain) Related Reports on UN Events, Appointments & Carrers at “United Nations Web TV” or Diplomatic Career” Channel - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/diplomatic-career By Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey Facebook – Become a Fan at “Diplomatically Incorrect” Twitter – Follow us – DiplomaticallyX