World Maritime Day is observed on September 26 in the year 2020. It marks the contribution of International maritime industries towards the economy pf world especially shipping. It aims to raise people’s awareness about the significance of shipping safety, maritime security, and marine environment.
World Maritime Day-Date, History, Importance & Celebration
World Maritime Day was started by the United Nations, with the help of the International Maritime Organization. However, World Maritime Day was observed for the first time on March 17, 1978, and it came into action in the year 1958. It is said that the dates of events vary from country to country and year by year but it is always observed at the end the September.
The theme decided for 2020 World Maritime Day is “ Sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet”. Its focus is on providing opportunities to raise awareness of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also focuses on the work that IMO and its member states are undertaking to achieve the targets. 2020 is believed to be the starting of a new decade of action and delivery for the UN’s global goals. It also aims to provide flexibility to the IMO and its member states to fulfill the challenges regarding Sustainable Development Agenda in 2030. This theme throws light on the IMO for building a sustainable future and IMO aims to reflect the work done by it and plan the necessary steps to be taken for the future.
During 2015, around 193 counties, including the UN Member states., Adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. It calls all the counties for action to remove poverty.
Digging into the past years, the theme for World Maritime Day 2019 was “ Empowering Women in the maritime community”. It was focused on raising awareness of the importance of gender equality. It highlighted the importance of the contribution of women within the maritime sector.
The headquarters of the World Maritime community is in London, the United Kingdom at present. Kitack Lim Paren organization is the Secretary-General for the World Maritime community. IMO was formed after agreement at a UN Conference held at Geneva in 1948. IMO is responsible for regulating the shipping across nations.
Date & Day
Date 2019: September 26, Thuursday
Date 2020: September 24, Thursday
Date 2021: September 30, Thursday
IMO believes to focus on several topics such as safety, maritime security, legal matters, environmental concerns, technical co-operation, and efficiency of shipping.
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It is interesting to know that shipping drives the world’s economy as 90% of the goods are Transited by ships as it is safer and environmentally friendly. As it is rightly said, “ A ship in port is safe. But that’s what it is not meant for”.
