The first scheduled meeting will be a simultaneous, remote, special session of all committees to deal with procedural issues. This follows decisions of the thirty-second extraordinary session of the IMO Council, which introduced interim guidelines to encourage remote sessions of the IMO Council during the COVID-19 pandemic, and asked the committees to consider using the same guidelines.

Following the extraordinary sessions, the calendar sets  the 44th  session of the Facilitation (FAL) Committee (September 28-October 2); the Council 124th session of the Council (October 12-14); the seventh meeting of the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (October 19-23); the 102nd session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) (November 4-11); the 75th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) (November 16-20); the 107th session of the Legal Committee (November 27 and November 30- December 1) and a meeting of the IOPC Funds Assembly (December 2-4); the 70th session of the Technical Cooperation (TC) Committee (December 7-11); and the London Convention/London Protocol meeting (LC 42/LP 15) (December 14-15). The International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMSO) Assembly will meet from December 16-18.

The 32nd Extraordinary Session of the IMO Council ended its work on 3 August. The Council adopted a resolution recognizing the importance of keeping trade going during the pandemic, recognizing the position of seafarers and emphasizing the urgent need for action to reform crews.

The Council also endorsed the World Maritime Theme for 2021, "Seafarers: at the core of the future of shipping."

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