Safe Hands

Koji Sekimizu, director of the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Division, has been elected as the next chief of the U.N. agency.

Sekimizu, a 58-year-old native of Yokohama, has worked more than 20 years at the IMO.

His efforts involving countermeasures against piracy off Somalia have earned him high praise and he is considered by many as a “safe pair of hands” for the most high profile role in shipping.