Mr. Dominguez currently serves as Director, Marine Environment Division of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), having served previously as Director, Administrative Division and Chief of Staff. Before joining IMO in July 2017, Mr. Dominguez worked for the Panama Maritime Authority starting in 1998 as Head of the Regional Technical and Documentation Office for Europe and North Africa, and as Alternate Representative and Technical Adviser of Panama to IMO from 2004 to 2014. In July 2014 he was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Panama to IMO.
From 1998 to 2017, Mr Dominguez represented Panama at IMO, as well as at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) and the International Mobile Satellite Organisation (IMSO). He also represented Panama at several shipping conferences, forums, exhibitions, seminars and workshops.
Having chaired a number of meetings at international organisations, Mr. Dominguez was elected Chair of IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) from 2014 to 2017, having previously served as Vice-chair from 2012 to 2013. He was also elected Chair of the Technical Committee at the 29th IMO Assembly in 2015, Chair of IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) Working Group on Maritime Security and Piracy from 2010 to 2014, and Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee of Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers (DSC) from 2009 to 2011.
Mr. Dominguez holds a Naval Architect degree from Veracruzana University, Mexico; an MBA in Management from the University of Hull, and a Certificate of Higher Education in International Law and European Politics from Birkbeck University, both in London, England.
On 18 July 2023, Mr Dominguez was elected as the 10th Secretary-General of the IMO at the 129th session of the Council of the Organization, with effect from 1 January 2024, subject to the Assembly’s approval, for an initial period of four years from 2024 to 2027.