In Current Maritime Issues and the International Maritime Organization , leading experts thoughtfully consider the most pressing issues confronting the International Maritime Organization, as the IMO celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. The papers in this publication were originally presented at the Twenty-Third Annual Seminar of the Center for Oceans Law and Policy (COLP), University of Virginia School of Law, an event co-hosted with the IMO in January, 1999, at its headquarters in London. Subjects covered were maritime safety, marine environmental protection, flag State implementation and port State control, IMO's interface with the Law of the Sea Convention, IMO Legal Committee work, and broader questions of IMO regulations and oceans policy. Current Maritime Issues and the International Maritime Organization also includes keynote papers by Sir Robert Jennings, the distinguished former President of the International Court of Justice; Ms Glenda Jackson, the United Kingdom Under-Secretary of State and Minister of Shipping; and Ambassador Satya N. Nandan, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority.