The International Maritime organisation has launched a project called Blue Solutions to support maritime decarbonisation across Southeast Asia. The initiative was announced at the 51st meeting of the ASEAN Maritime Transport Working Group in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
According to a report published by reports on 30 October 2026, the IMO will implement Blue Solutions in partnership with Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia, known as PEMSEA, and regional collaborators. The report identified the MTWG meeting as the venue for the announcement.
The project name and the stated purpose emphasise a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other carbon-related impacts from shipping operations in the Southeast Asian region. The IMO presented Blue Solutions as a targeted measure to assist states and stakeholders in addressing the sector's contribution to climate change.
The announcement at the ASEAN working group meeting placed the initiative within a regional cooperative framework. Delegates from ASEAN member states and regional organisations were present at the MTWG session in Phnom Penh when the IMO unveiled the project, according to the published account.
Blue Solutions will be implemented by the IMO with PEMSEA acting as a collaborating partner. The published summary indicates further regional partners will also be involved in delivering the project, though the report does not provide an exhaustive list of those partners.
The choice of the MTWG meeting as the platform for the launch underlines the project's alignment with regional transport and maritime policy discussions. The meeting provided an established forum for the IMO to present the initiative directly to ASEAN officials and maritime stakeholders.
Implementation partners and setting
PEMSEA was named in the report as the principal regional collaborator with the IMO on Blue Solutions. The partnership signals engagement with an organisation that operates across East Asian seas, as described in the published summary.
Further implementation details, including the identities of additional collaborators, programme timeline and specific activities, were not set out in the report. The account confined itself to the announcement of the project, its geographic focus and its principal collaborative link to PEMSEA.
Announcement context and next steps
The launch at the 51st MTWG meeting situates Blue Solutions within ongoing ASEAN maritime discussions. The report from reports is the source of the detail that the announcement occurred at that meeting in Phnom Penh.
The published material does not specify subsequent meetings, funding arrangements or operational milestones for Blue Solutions. Public reporting confined itself to the declaration of intent and the named collaboration between the IMO and PEMSEA.
The emergence of Blue Solutions adds another named initiative to the public record in which the IMO and regional partners have signalled attention to decarbonisation in Southeast Asia. For now, the accountable organisations and local stakeholders will need to disclose further information to clarify the scope, partners and practical measures that the project will pursue.
The report providing these details was issued on 30 October 2026 by reports, which carried the announcement from the MTWG meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.