IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu and WMU
President Dr. Björn Kjerfve celebrate the World Maritime University's 30th
anniversary on July 10.
-It will move to Tornhuset, the historic Old Harbour Master’s Building in 2014
-To date, 3,477 students from 164 countries have graduated from WMU
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) on July 10 celebrated
the 30th anniversary of the founding of the World Maritime University (WMU),
which is based in Malmö, Sweden, with a special event which included speeches
from the current and former WMU Chancellors and the WMU President.
Addressing the elite gathering, Mr Koji Sekimizu, IMO
Secretary-General and WMU Chancellor, said,”For 30 years, WMU has performed,
and delivered, at the very highest level. It has achieved everything its
founders could ever have envisaged, and much, much more. It has grown into an institution
of truly world class, with an international presence and a global outreach.”
Mr Sekimizu also
read out messages of support from Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of the Nippon
Foundation, which has given much support to WMU over the years, in terms of sponsorship
and financial assistance, and from the ”founding father” of WMU, IMO
Secretary-General Emeritus Dr. C.P. Srivastava, KCMG, who was instrumental in
establishing WMU when he was IMO Secretary-General.
The other speakers included: Mr. William A. O'Neil, CMG, Chancellor
Emeritus and Secretary-General Emeritus; Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos,
Chancellor Emeritus and Secretary-General Emeritus; Dr. Wendy Watson-Wright,
Assistant Director-General, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) and Executive Secretary, UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC-UNESCO); Mrs. Nancy Karigithu, Director General of the Kenya
Maritime Authority, Kenya, Chairman of IMO’s Technical Co-operation Committee
and Member of the WMU Board of Governors; Mr. Cong Peiwu, Minister at the
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in London; Dr. Takeshi Nakazawa, Secretary,
International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU); Mr. Torben Skaanild,
Secretary General/CEO of BIMCO and Chairman, WMU Executive Board; and Dr. Björn
Kjerfve, President, WMU.
WMU was
established at the beginning of the 1980s, when IMO identified a shortage of
well-qualified, highly-educated maritime experts, particularly in lesser
developed nations. It was to address this gap that IMO founded an institution
to support Member States with the high level education necessary to implement
international conventions. WMU today offers its original Master of Science
degree, but also, in addition to six specializations available within the Malmö
M.Sc. programme, there are now M.Sc. programmes in Shanghai and Dalian, China
and a Ph.D. programme offering five specializations, within a flexible framework
allowing the majority of the programmes to be completed from afar.
Distance-learning is available as well, with a Postgraduate Diploma in Marine
Insurance through co-operation with Lloyd’s Maritime Academy.
In addition, WMU utilizes its extensive network of
international maritime experts to deliver a broad programme of professional development
courses in Malmö, with the potential for tailor made courses at any location
worldwide. WMU has also been taking advantage of its extensive network to
organize and host a series of international conferences, in a significant
expansion to the services it has traditionally offered the maritime community.
Recent topics have included oil spill risk management, piracy
at sea, emerging ballast water management systems, the impact of climate change
in the maritime industry and ship recycling.
Research projects currently underway include those in
important areas such as mitigating invasive species in the arctic, risk assessment,
maritime spatial planning, e navigation and safety of life at sea.
To date, 3,477
students from 164 countries have graduated from WMU and many hold very senior
positions - Government ministers, deputy ministers, ambassadors to other
countries. Some have pursued career paths to occupy senior positions in
shipping companies, regional maritime organizations and national port and harbour
authorities.
Mr. Sekimizu
thanked the Government of Sweden and the City of Malmö for generously providing
WMU with its facilities, noting that, at the end of 2014, the University will
move to Tornhuset, the historic Old Harbour Master’s Building in the centre of Malmö,
which will be supplemented by a dramatic new, modern addition designed by a
leading Scandinavian architect.
In total, this move will virtually double WMU’s floor
space and provide a strong foundation for even more growth and development for
this remarkable institution over the next 30 years and more.
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