World Maritime Day is celebrated every year in the last week of September. There is a slight deviation in the dates of celebration of different countries but usually, it is celebrated on the Thursday of last week of September. This celebration was started by the International Maritime Organisation and the United Nations. This day has it’s most of the focus on maritime security, shipping time safety, the marine environment and also on all the aspects of how IMO works. The day is celebrated in many countries like Australia, United States of America and also the United Nations. On this day people do not get a holiday because it is a national observance and not any public holiday. The day has its significance that relates the contribution that maritime industry has made towards the world’s economy.
Different Day Of Observance
The countries which will celebrate World Maritime Day. Most of these countries organize different events in order to celebrate the importance of this day. this is done by most of the organizations and also the United Nations. Several activities are organized which includes making the school children learn the importance of this day. The United Nations will be observing the day on 26th September. The date changes in most of the year but it usually falls in the last week of September. The dates in previous years-
- 2019-26th September
- 2017- 27th September
- 2016- 28th September
- 2015- 29th September
About IMO
IMO basically stands for International Maritime Organisation. Previously it was known with some other name or one should say the original name of IMO was the Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation(IMCO). Last year, IMO celebrated its 70th World Time Organisation. International shipping constitutes about 80 percent of the total world’s trade that reaches to communities or people. Shipping is the most effective way of transportation for most of the goods among the countries. It provides a dependable and lost cost means of transporting the good globally. It is reliable and in this way, the IMO has helped so much in increasing the world’s economy. The organization that manages it all the way is IMO. IMO’s main objective in the upcoming years is definitely maintaining sustainable shipping and sustainable maritime development.
Theme Of World Maritime Day
Every year IMO celebrates the day with a good and specific theme. This year the theme will be based on “Empowering Women in the Maritime Community”. This will be providing the opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of gender equality. This will be inline with the highlights of sustainable shipping and maritime development. It will also highlight how women contribute to the Maritime organization. This is still underutilization. The theme will be focusing basically on the empowering women for the thriving world’s economy which spurs growth, development. It will benefit everyone who is working with the community in order to gain sustainable maritime development. IMO will do so by felicitating the technical training for women to encourage them and make them capable to join the trading field.
Previous year the theme of celebration of World Maritime Day was “IMO 70- Our Heritage- Better Shipping For Better Future”. This was because last year it was the 70th anniversary of the celebration.
History Behind Establishing IMO
This is already known to the readers that the current international regulations of laws have made every country to improve the trading through maritime. But in the 19th century, there were many treaties that were made before the current regulation. Various countries proposed that there should be an organization that will manage all the shipping trade globally. But the importance was not realized until the United Nations came into the picture. Then an international conference was held in Geneva in the year 1948 that resulted in the establishment of the IMO which was originally named as IMCO.
