The head of the International Maritime organisation has urged Member States to step up enforcement of maritime safety and security regulations in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
The appeal by IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez was reported on 12 November 2026 and is addressed to IMO Member States. The report says Mr Dominguez called for stronger action to ensure compliance with the organisation's rules.
Mr Dominguez made the appeal amid continued attacks against commercial ships in the area, a pattern the source highlights as the immediate context for the request. The report does not set out new measures but stresses the need for enforcement of existing technical and operational rules.
“IMO’s technical and operational regulations are there to protect ...” is quoted in the report as part of the Secretary-General's remarks. The citation in reports frames the statement as an appeal to states to apply those regulations more robustly.
Immediate call to action
The Secretary-General’s message is a direct request for member governments to translate regulation into action through enforcement at national and regional levels. The report presents enforcement as the necessary follow-up to the IMO's established regulatory framework rather than as a proposal for fresh conventions.
Concerns for commercial shipping
The source underlines that the call comes against a backdrop of attacks on commercial shipping, and it places enforcement as central to protecting vessels and those aboard without detailing operational responses. The article confines itself to the Secretary-General’s plea and the context of ongoing incidents affecting merchant shipping in and near the Strait of Hormuz.
The report does not list specific enforcement steps, flag or port state actions, or international responses, nor does it include further quotations from Member States. It records an exhortation from the IMO Secretariat, as conveyed by reports on 12 November 2026, that existing regulations be applied more stringently in the waters around the strait.
The Secretary-General’s appeal, as reported, underlines the role of IMO rules as instruments intended to reduce risk at sea and to support maritime safety and security. The piece leaves open how Member States and maritime authorities will respond to that appeal and whether those responses will modify commercial shipping practices in the region.