UN highlights maritime education, training on World Maritime Day

Marking the observance of World Maritime Day, top UN officials on Thursday highlighted the importance of the international shipping industry, as well as the necessity of maintaining high education and training standards within the sector as a key part of the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals.

"Through the millennia, shipping has united the world by carrying the goods and commodities that underpin the global economy," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a message.

World Maritime Day for 2015 falls on Sept. 24, with the theme of "Maritime education and training."

"Today, shipping is a modern, highly technical, professional discipline that requires a great deal of skill, knowledge and expertise from the maritime workforce," he said. "A safe, secure and clean shipping industry can only be built on effective standards of education and training, which is the theme for this year's World Maritime Day."

He also praised the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN specialized agency for maritime safety and environmental protection, noting that it has had a "long and wide-ranging involvement in maritime education and training."

Meanwhile, the UN chief noted the important role the maritime industry will play in the implementation of the goals contained in the 2030 Agenda.

"Looking ahead, the human element in shipping will be increasingly important as the industry moves towards ever higher standards of safety, environmental impact and sustainability, and seeks to do its part to implement the new Sustainable Development Goals," he said.

The new development goals are expected to be adopted at a UN summit on Friday to guide the global sustainable development efforts for the next 15 years.

In his remarks, IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu highlighted the importance of shipping to the global community and the key role it has to play in sustainable development.

"The world depends on a safe, secure and efficient shipping industry; and the shipping industry depends on an adequate supply of seafarers to operate the ships that carry the essential cargoes we all rely on," Sekimizu said.

He also noted the importance of making the industry appeal to a new generation of workers.

"The importance of training and education for the maritime personnel of today and tomorrow is greater than ever before," he said, adding that education and training are central parks of the work of the IMO with regard to shipping labor.

Sekimizu also referred to the 1978 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, which, he said, has set the international benchmark for seafarer training and education.

Sekimizu said that amendments to the Convention were adopted in 2010 in Manila, and yet much remained to be done to ensure their effective implementation by the January 2017 deadline. Enditem