Artigenda
World Maritime Day
When: Annually, last Thursday of September.
The last Thursday of September is World Maritime Day. This day is not about the world’s oceans, it’s about the activities that take place in the world’s seas. This day is about how transports overseas are carried out.
Sea transport
World Maritime Day focus on sea transport. The United Nation’s organization for transports across the seas, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is the advocate for sea transport.
Besides the dangers at sea, the focus is on the responsible use of the world’s oceans. How can a balance be struck to respect the planet, nature and animals at sea? This is an ongoing challenge one faces. Especially when you consider the huge importance of sea transport.
Ever Given
In an era when orders via online shops mean that ships full of sea containers have to be transported from one end of the world to the other, this still sometimes causes problems. As a well-known example, take the container ship the Ever Given. This ship was delivered in 2018 and already a year later, the first incident occurred with this vessel. On February 9, 2019, the ship rammed a ferry and some pontoons at Finkenwerder near the German city of Hamburg. Yet this was not the incident that made the ship famous. The Suez Canal blockade between March 23 and March 29, 2021, provided the ship’s real fame.
When the ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, it became clear to what extent a container ship could cause a lot of misery. The Suez Canal accounts for about 10 per cent of all world trade. It is, after all, the shortest connection between Asia and Europe.
The Suez Canal isn’t the only important canal in the world. It’s not the only canal that is a bottleneck and more locations are of vital importance. The events that took place in 2021 can happen in another place too. For instance in the Panama Canal in South America (Panama).
Sustainability
On a day like today, these are also things to think about. In addition to the challenges of implementing sustainability in shipping. In doing so, it is hoped to reduce environmental impact and climate change.
The IMO website offers more information about World Maritime Day and the organization itself. So, the website is a must-visit if you want to learn more about this topic. There’s also an official UN website available about this day. This website is located here.
