Irish Maritime Development Office

The Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) located in Dublin is Ireland’s dedicated development, promotional and marketing office for the shipping services sector. Its statutory mandate is to promote and develop growth in the Irish shipping industry, and to attract to Ireland additional marine related service sector operations along with key players in International Shipping and ancillary services.

The team carries out activities in the following areas:

Business Development, Policy & Ports

As an island-based economy, maritime transport represents the lifeblood of Irish industry with 99% of all Irish imports and exports travelling by sea.

The Irish shipping market connects Irish industry and our economy with the world. In this regard it is one of Ireland’s most strategically important industries.

IMDO provides assistance to the Irish maritime industry and its consumers in its effort to maintain competitiveness in the International market place.

The formulation and delivery of expert advice to Government is among the office’s principal roles. The IMDO also markets Ireland overseas as a dynamic European location for international shipping services to locate their operations. IMDO has driven a number of successful initiatives including a new highly competitive shipping corporate tax regime as well as securing inward investment for Ireland and supporting Irish firms in the development of their overseas markets.

Market Analysis

IMDO produces a wealth of relevant and important information in support of the Irish shipping industry including market analysis and specialist publications such as the annual Irish Maritime Transport Economist; Shipping Tradelinks; and the Quarterly Trade and Traffic Statements. These are all delivered both in hard copy and via IMDO web-based platforms.

Maritime Education

Education and training is a vital component of industry development in the shipping sector and IMDO are assisting this with such initiatives as sourcing opportunities for cadets with major international companies; funding education and training; maintaining a maritime careers web site; working with the National Maritime College of Ireland on training and education programmes specifically tailored to the needs of industry; and operating a web-based education project for schools called Follow the Fleet.

Mr. Liam Lacey, Director of IMDO.