Govt. launches ‘Maritime Week’ celebration programs

By Waruni Paranagamage

The Ministry of Ports and Shipping yesterday launched several programs to celebrate the country’s first-ever Maritime Week as declared by the Government from 21 to 27 September.

The celebration was held at the Mahapola Training Institute, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, parallel to the World Maritime Day celebration which falls today (24) on the theme ‘Maritime Education and Training’.

The United Nations (UN), via the International Maritime Organization (IMO), created World Maritime Day to celebrate the international maritime industry’s contribution towards the world economy, especially in shipping. The event date varies by year and country but it is always in the last week of September. 

The celebration included 200 students representing schools in the Western Province and several programs have been held to create awareness about the maritime industry. A field visit to the Colombo Port was also organised for the students parallel to the occasion. The Chief Guest of the event, Minister of Ports and Shipping Arjuna Ranatunga addressing the students said that the Government would develop the Mahapola Training Institute (MTI) as a Government university in order to generate maritime intellectuals to society and reap the benefits in the fast-growing maritime field.

The Minister said the Government would focus on developing maritime education as a subject and would train students to meet foreign job opportunities available in the maritime field.

The 2015 World Maritime Day theme ‘Maritime Education and Training’ was adopted to focus attention on the wider spectrum of maritime education and training. The theme refers to maritime adequacy and quality as the bedrock of a safe and secure shipping industry, which needs to preserve the quality, practical skills and competence of qualified human resources, in order to ensure its sustainability.

“The maritime field is famous only among students in Colombo suburbs and rural students are not familiar with the subject. We want to familiarise rural students with the subject and prepare them for the various job opportunities available worldwide in the maritime sector,” the Minister added.

The World Maritime Day was announced by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a specialised UN agency, in 1978. IMO undertakes to develop and maintain a comprehensive regulatory framework for shipping.

The IMO’s original name was the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) but the name was changed in 1982 to IMO. The IMO focuses on areas such as safety, environmental concerns, legal matters, technical co-operation, maritime security and the efficiency of shipping.

World Maritime Day was first held on 17 March 1978 to mark the date of the IMO Convention’s entry into force in 1958. At that time, the organisation had 21 member states. It now has about 167 member states and three associate members. This membership includes virtually all the nations of the world with an interest in maritime affairs, including those involved in the shipping industry and coastal states with an interest in protecting their maritime environment.