(NEWS) World Maritime Day 2025 - Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity

September

2025

World Maritime Day 2025 - Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity

For World Maritime Day 2025 on 25 September, the World Maritime University (WMU) is joining the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in illuminating their headquarters buildings blue.

The 2025 World Maritime Day theme, "Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity" reflects the ocean’s vital role. For the occasion, Professor Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr., WMU President, issued the following message:

“This year, the International Maritime Organization has chosen the theme “Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity” for World Maritime Day on 25 September.

The ocean is life sustaining for humanity and our planet as a whole. It carries over 80% of world trade, sustains millions of livelihoods, provides us with a critical food resource, regulates our climate, and shelters extraordinary marine life.

This bounty of gifts from the ocean comes with responsibility. The World Maritime University, an institution founded within the framework of the International Maritime Organization , takes this responsibility to heart., In support of IMO and the international maritime community as a whole, we are preparing the next generation of maritime and ocean leaders to safeguard our oceans—through education, capacity development, and research that tackle pressing challenges like marine pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and the impacts of climate change. We also prepare future leaders to unlock the boundless opportunities of the oceans – by forming communities of collaboration that will drive responsible innovation in the blue economy.

Our obligation to protect the ocean is a mandate that WMU fully embraces. WMU supports the maritime sector in advancing a sustainable global shipping industry that fosters prosperity while safeguarding the ocean. Protecting the ocean is both an obligation and an opportunity — it is imperative to a sustainable and hopeful future for all.”

To view the recorded message, click here.

About World Maritime Day

World Maritime Day was first held in 1978 to mark the 20th anniversary of the IMO Convention’s entry into force. Celebrations are 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. World Maritime Day celebrations are usually held during the last week in September. To read more about World Maritime Day 2025, click here.

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