Jamaicans benefit from int'l maritime education

Jamaican seafarers and the country's maritime sector are benefiting from education received from the World Maritime University (WMU) and the country's close association with the university.

According to Rear Admiral Peter Brady, director general of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ), "Our administrators, policymakers and, indeed, seafarers, are improving their knowledge and technical capacity by attending courses at the WMU and then bringing their new skills and experience back to the Caribbean to the benefit of our maritime industries.

"Together, they are helping us achieve safer, cleaner and more secure seas, and contributing to the development of our maritime administrations and industries through their enhanced capacity and academic training," Rear Admiral Brady added.

Returning from the 29th regular session of the WMU board of governors in Malms, Sweden, chaired by IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos, the university's chancellor, Rear Admiral Brady reports that under a new charter with a new president and tighter board of governors with renewed thrust, assisted by new institutional arrangements, the WMU is seeking to improve its financial position and raise its global profile higher by increasing the fellowships for the core master of science programmes, strengthening the research-based activities and extending its outreach with relevant professional development courses.

Over a period of 25 years, a total of 27 Jamaicans have graduated with master's degrees from the university. They serve in various senior maritime and executive capacities in Government and in the commercial sector, at the Port Authority of Jamaica, the Caribbean Maritime Institute, the MAJ, the Jamaica Defence Force, the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and commercial law firms, while many others have migrated and are now serving in the governments and maritime industries of several CARICOM states.

Rear Admiral Brady has been a member of the WMU board for four years. At this, the second meeting of the board since the governance arrangements at the university were updated through the revision of its charter, (effective from January 1, 2010), the governors welcomed the improvement in the university's budgetary position and approved three plans drawn up by the university to guide its future development. The board approved, as working documents, three plans drawn up by the university to guide its future development: a Strategic Vision Plan, 2010-2015; a Development Plan, 2011-2013 (which includes plans for the relocation of the university to a larger, state-of-the-art building provided by the city of Malms); and a Business Plan for 2011 and 2012 (which includes much-improved financial modelling tools to support the effective management of the university's limited resources).

The WMU has established an excellent reputation as the global centre for advanced education, training and research for specialist personnel from the international maritime community. More than 3,000 alumni and graduates from 157 countries and territories, including Jamaica, maintain close links both with the university and among themselves, thereby encouraging and facilitating the highest practicable standards in maritime safety and security and the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment.