IMO’s Ponomarev, 41, dies

IMO’s Ponomarev, 41, dies    Igor Ponomarev, 41, chairman of the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee, has died following a heart attack.
   Ponomarev, Russia’s permanent representative at the IMO, was elected chairman to the safety committee in 2005 after 13 year at the organization, during which time he chaired various working and drafting groups.
   “I would like to express my sincerest condolences and those of the entire IMO membership and staff to Mr. Ponomarev’s family,” said IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos. “Igor was a great friend and a highly talented young man who had all the necessary background, depth of knowledge, courage and wisdom to take on the challenges and the enormous responsibility of chairing the most senior technical committee of IMO.
   “He will be hugely missed by his family, friends and the whole international shipping community,” Mitropoulos said.