This year’s theme for World Maritime Day will be “Maritime Education and Training".
The theme was adopted to focus attention on the wider spectrum of maritime education and training, in particular its 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 1978 STCW Convention and Code, as amended, set the international benchmark for the training and education of seafarers. While compliance with its standards is essential for serving on board ships, the skills and competence of seafarers, and indeed, the human element ashore, can only be adequately underpinned, updated and maintained through effective maritime education and training.
World Maritime Day
The World Maritime Day theme provides a focus for year-round activities while the day itself is celebrated at IMO Headquarters on Thursday 24 September and around the world in the last week of September. Since 2005, a formal parallel event has also been held, hosted by an IMO Member State. In 2015 the parallel event will be held in Japan.
Member governments, the maritime industry and training centres are invited to organise their own events to support the theme.
