The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), as the specialised agency of the United Nations, has been entrusted with the duty to provide machinery for co-operation among governments for the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment from vessels.1 The organisation was initially established as the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO). It was known as IMCO until 1982, when it was changed to IMO. The organisation is responsible for drafting legal instruments, as well as for facilitating technical co-operation for the protection of the marine environment.2 This book aims to examine the role of IMO in preventing and controlling pollution of the marine environment from vessels, with particular reference to the north–south tensions regarding the strategy for prevention of marine pollution. Control of marine pollution is a technically difficult and diverse area. This led to the development of a large set of international conventions under the auspices of IMO. Although IMO legal instruments are mainly targeted at the prevention of pollution of the marine environment from vessels, there is a trend towards a liberal interpretation of the term ‘pollution of the marine environment from vessels.’ For example, dumping of wastes and other matter is not a ship-generated pollution in a