Welcome to the 44^th International Conference of the Comité Maritime International (CMI) in Tokyo. We are excited to welcome over four hundred registered delegates and their accompanying persons who will participate in the conference sessions and social programs.

Shortly after the Gothenburg Colloquium, the CMI Tokyo Conference Organising Committee began working earnestly on the programme, expenses, and general organisation of the much-awaited conference in Tokyo, which had originally been planned for 2020. It is our great pleasure to welcome you all to Tokyo at last.

We hope you will agree that it is a stimulating, thought-provoking, and varied programme dealing with important current topics. The topics include the legal conundrums related to decarbonisation, the fallout from the physical attacks on shipping, legal issues related to the cruise line industry, regulating mobile offshore renewable units, and liability issues in maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS). Maritime lawyers worldwide are dealing with these issues, and our exposure to them will obviously increase going forward. We will be working on the in-depth deliberation of Lex Maritima, as well as providing time for discussions related to polar shipping and the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds). In addition, we will give our Asian hosts a platform to discuss legal issues that are particularly relevant to Asia. We will have a discussion on CMI’s future mission, ensuring that the conventions in which CMI has been deeply involved get ratified. The biographies of the speakers are available on our website and the special smartphone application for the Conference.

The conference venue is the majestic Hotel New Otani Tokyo, and there is an extensive social programme to enable us to have quality time to mingle with colleagues, develop existing relationships and make new ones.

The conference programme begins with the traditional welcome reception, followed by the Young CMI Event on 13^th May (Tuesday). There will be a half-day excursion on the 16^th (Friday), wherein we will go for a tour of the Tokyo Bay on a ship, followed by a visit to the Hama Rikyu Gardens and the famous Tokyo Tower, ending our day with a reception at the XEX Atago Greenhills. We will have the Gala Dinner on the 17^th (Saturday). Undoubtedly, the tour of Tokyo Bay will be one of the highlights of the conference. The accompanying persons’ programme has also been arranged for the spouses and partners; we are sure it will be interesting for them.

From the Programme, you will see that 13^th May (Tuesday) will be dedicated to meetings of the International Working Groups (IWGs) and Standing Committees (SCs). As we have seen over the past three years, some of the IWGs and SCs will opt for a closed meeting, while others who are in a position to share their work and wish to obtain feedback from the representatives of National Maritime Law Associations in attendance will opt for an open meeting.

We hope that the CMI Tokyo Conference 2025 will be another memorable international conference for all attendees.

Ann Fenech
Rosalie Balkin
Tomotaka Fujita