9
November
2016

WMU Participates in World Maritime Day Parallel Event – Istanbul, Turkey

This year’s World Maritime Day Parallel Event was held in Istanbul, Turkey from 4-6 November carrying on the 2016 theme of Shipping: Indispensable to the World. The theme highlights the role that shipping plays, the contribution it makes and the economic impact it has on the global economy as well as its impact on our daily lives. Further, it focuses on the critical link between shipping and global society to raise awareness of the relevance of the role of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as the global regulatory body for international shipping.

Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, WMU President, spoke at the event on the topic of The Oceans: Employment opportunities and educational requirements stating, “The oceans cover about 70% of the earth’s surface, but we depend almost 100% on it for our existence, in terms of food supply, but more importantly in terms of the functioning of the atmospheric and meteorological cycles that sustain human life.” The President addressed four elements with respect to education and training, including jobs in the maritime industry and in the marine/ocean sectors, job creation and the entrepreneurial and sustainability paradigm, and WMU’s contribution. She emphasized WMU’s commitment to IMO’s technical cooperation strategy in support of IMO’s goals and mission and the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. She highlighted that WMU is uniquely positioned and ready to support the capacity building efforts of States and maritime and ocean industry stakeholders and to ensure that they benefit from an enhanced and life-long maritime and oceans education and training.

WMU faculty member, Professor Ilias Visvikis, made a presentation on The role of easy access to capital, opportunities and challenges in the maritime business. He addressed the situation in today’s market including developments and challenges in bank maritime financing, the future and challenges of maritime finance and opportunities ahead.

At the event, President Doumbia-Henry had the opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister of Turkey, H.E. Binali Yıldırım who is a 1991 WMU Alumnus and who is a member of the WMU Board of Governors. Dr. Yıldırım received an Honorary Doctorate and an Outstanding Alumnus award from WMU during the 2012 graduation ceremony. She also had the opportunity to meet with Mr Ahmet Arslan, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications of the Republic of Turkey.

World Maritime Day was first held in 1978 to mark the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the IMO Convention that established the Organization. Since then, World Maritime Day celebrations have been held throughout the world to focus attention on the importance of shipping safety, maritime security and the marine environment and to emphasize a particular aspect of IMO's work. Since 2005, in addition to the official IMO celebrations held at IMO Headquarters in London, there has been a World Maritime Day Parallel Event  hosted by a member State. 

To view the 2016 World Maritime Day video featuring IMO Secretary-General, Mr. Kitack Lim, who serves as Chancellor of WMU and is a WMU alumnus, click here.

 

Related Documents
No items found.
Dissertation title
Deniece M. Aiken
Jamaica
Maritime Governance: Contextual Factors affecting Implementation of IMO Instruments
Anas S. Alamoush
Jordan
The Transition to low and near zero carbon emission ports: Extent and Determinants
Kristie Alleyne
Barbados
Spatiotemporal Analyses of Pelagic Sargassum: Biodiversity, Morphotypes and Arsenic Content
Kristal Ambrose
Bahamas
Contextual Barriers Facing Caribbean SIDS in the Global Governance of Plastic Pollution. Assessing the need for harmonized marine debris monitoring and contextual equity to support participation in the global plastics treaty negotiations by Caribbean SIDS
Ajay Deshmukh
India
Hinterland Connectivity and Market Share. A case of Indian Container Ports
Roxanne Graham
Grenada
Combatting the Marine Litter Crisis in the Windward Islands: Examining Source-to-Sea Pathways and Fostering Multi-Scale Solutions
Tricia Lovell
Trinidad and Tobago
The Problem of Abandoned, Lost and otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) in Eastern Caribbean Small-Scale Fisheries. Understanding the Challenges, Defining Solutions
Renis Auma Ojwala
Kenya
Gender equality in ocean science for sustainable development
Yingfeng Shao
China
Harmonisation in the Rules Governing the Recognition of Foreign Judicial Ship Sales
Seyedvahid Vakili
Iran
The Development of a Systematic, Holistic and Transdisciplinary Energy Management Framework to Promote Environmentally Sustainable Shipyards