The WMU-Koji Sekimizu PhD Fellowship on Maritime Governance was officially launched on 25 June 2019 at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London. Spearheaded by the World Maritime University (WMU) with support from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Dr. Koji Sekimizu, Former Chancellor of WMU and Former IMO Secretary-General, the PhD Fellowship will enable an assessment of the role and impact of maritime governance over the past 60 years. Account will need to be taken of the role of the IMO as well as of relevant United Nations agencies and bodies that have impacted maritime governance.
The launch of the fellowship is in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the IMO Convention in 1948. The IMO Convention entered into force in 1958. As this year is also the 21st anniversary of the IMO-Singapore Memorandum of Understanding on Third Country Training Programme (TCTP), MPA’s support of this fellowship is therefore timely. Since 1998, MPA has been training the international maritime community under the IMO Singapore TCTP. To date, more than 2,000 officials from over 90 countries have been successfully trained under MPA Academy flagship programmes and IMO-Singapore TCTP.
Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President of WMU, expressed her appreciation to the MPA for funding this fellowship. Dr. Sekimizu served the IMO for 26 years, including four years as the Secretary General of the organization. She noted the importance of the impact that IMO has had over the past 60 years in ensuring that shipping is safe, secure, efficient and environmentally sustainable.
She stated,
“At WMU, we pride ourselves on educating generations of students at the postgraduate level to be in a position to ensure the uniform application and effective implementation in law and in practice of global shipping instruments adopted by the IMO and other relevant international organizations. This PhD fellowship on maritime governance is timely. It will enable a broad-based assessment of the role and impact of relevant international maritime instruments, with a primary focus on IMO instruments and taking into account the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and relevant instruments of other UN agencies.”
Ms Quah Ley Hoon, MPA’s Chief Executive, said,
“MPA is pleased to contribute to the WMU-Koji Sekimizu PhD Fellowship on Maritime Governance programme, under Singapore’s enhanced technical co-operation and training package for the IMO and its Member States. We are confident that in the long run, the programme would reap great dividends in nurturing the next generation skilled maritime professionals who will make significant contributions to the international shipping community.”
