1

March
2014

2013

Celebrating ree D ecades of Achievement
Susan Jackson
Registrar
World Maritime University

On July 4, 1983, the World Maritime Universit y was formally inaugurat ed in M almö,
Sweden. ree decades later, the University,
IMO and the international maritime community have marked the University’s achievements
and developments in a year of celebration.
W M U’s annual International D ay was an
extra-special event, with over 250 people gathered at the H enrik Smith Residence on July 6
to celebrate world culture, dance, food, andsong, in the warmth of a Swedish summer day.
e event was opened by the WMU choir sing ing the W MU song and “W e are the W orld”,
followed by a display of national costumes. Students oﬀered performances ranging from traditional folk dance to more contemporary forms
that even included a glimpse of Gangnam

Style. N aturally, a wide variety of national
dishes was available at the festivities, whichembraced students, staﬀ, M almö host families,
and guests.
A formal celebrat ion was held at IM O on
W ednesday, July 10, reﬂecting on 30 years ofservice to the global maritime community, as
well as giving IM O and W M U the chance tothank the generous donors whose support madethe University a realit y. e event included
speeches from the current and former W M U
Chancellors, and a highlight was the reading by
the Secretary-G eneral of IM O , M r Koji Sekimizu, of a goodwill message from Dr Sasakawa:“For 30 years, W M U has performed, anddelivered, at t he very highest level. I t has
achieved everything its founders could ever have

Formal Celebration at IMO on July 10th

into an institution of truly world class, with aninternational presence and a global outreach.”e C hancellor also delivered a message of
goodwill from W M U’s Founding Chancellor
Emeritus, Dr C.P. Srivastava.
Subsequent speakers at the event were M r
W illiam A. O 'Neil, C hancellor Emeritus andSecretary-General Emeritus; Mr Efthimios E.
M it rop ou los, C h an cellor E m er it us an dSecret ary- G en eral E merit us; D r W en dy
W atson-W right, Assistant D irector G eneral,
United N ations E ducational, Scientiﬁc andCultural Organization (UNESCO) and Executive Secretary, UNESC O Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission; Mrs Nancy Karigithu, Director General of the Kenya Maritime
Authority, Chairman of IMO’s Technical Co--

2

operation C ommittee and M ember of the
WM U Board of G overnors; M r. Cong Peiwu,
M i ni ster at th e E m bassy of th e Peopl e’s
Republic of C hina in London; D r T akeshi
N akazawa, Secretary to the I nternational A ssociation of Maritime Universities (IAMU) andform er N i ppon F oun dati on Professori al
Chair-holder at WMU; M r Torben Skaanild,
Secretary G eneral /C E O of B I M C O andC hairm an, W M U E xecutive Board; and D r
Björn Kjerfve, President, W M U. e formalpart of the celebration was followed by a reception attended by over 250 people, including
more than 35 London-based graduates, manyof whom work at IM O or are a member of anational delegation.
T wo important academic conferences were
held during the year. e International Confer ence on Ship Recycling, hosted by WMU anddelivered in cooperation with the International
Maritime O rganization, took place in M almö
from April 7-9. It was the largest event on the
topic of ship recycling to take place in Scandinavia and brought together 250 participantsfrom 56 countries.
T he N orthern E uropean Shipping CSR Sym posium was held on N ovember 12 in D enmark,funded by T he N ippon Foundation, and hosted
in cooperation with the Japanese International
Transport Institute (JITI), the Baltic and International M aritime C ouncil (BIM C O ), theD anish Shipowners’ Association (D SA) andW MU. e event highlighted the importanceand beneﬁts of CSR as a part of business strategy for sh ipping companies. e opening
addresses were given by Mr. Mitsuyuki Unno,
E xecutive D irector of T he N ippon Foundation,and M r. Koji Sekimizu, Secretary-G eneral ofIMO.
e ﬁnal event of the anniversary year was
W M U ’s 30th G raduation, on N ovember 24.
W MU’s Chancellor, Mr. Koji Sekimizu, conferred postgraduat e degrees on the W orld
Maritime University’s Class of 2013, bringing
the total number of W MU graduates to 3,663
from 165 countries.
T he G uests of H onour were H .E . C atharina
E lmsäter-Svärd, Sweden’s M inister of I nfrastructure, and Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr.,
C ommandant of t he Unit ed St at es C oast
G uard. M s E lmsäter-Svärd remarked upon the
key role that mariners play in global trade, andthat W M U represents “true diversity of thekind that is rare to ﬁnd.” She noted that WMU
was initially hosted in M almö based on the
G overnment of Sweden’s belief in developing
and empowering people through education,
research, and technology, and that Sweden continues to support the University based on thosebeliefs and the work of WMU over the past 30
years. In his address to the graduates, Admiral
Papp maintained that he and the graduatesshare the responsibility to advocate for maritime governance, and that by adhering to internat ional convent ions established by IM O ,many nations working together can make adiﬀerence in the safety and security of the seas
globally. M r. Sekimizu commented on thenumber of W M U alumni that are active at
IMO in a variety of roles, and emphasized theunique connection between IMO and WMU.

also won the Pierre Léonard Prize for theBest Female Student. e C .P . SrivastavaAward for International Fellowship was givent o Azusa F ukasawa (Sasakawa Fellow) ofJapan’s MLIT. Alina Prylipko of Ukraine won
the Lloyd´s M aritime Academy D issertation
Prize, while the Informa Law D issertation
P rize was awarded t o D enis M ulwa from
Kenya.
e evening before graduation, the C ity ofM almö marked W M U’s anniversary by hosting a gala dinner in the O ld C ity H all. e
event was attended by over 250 guests including dignitaries from around the globe, andawards were present ed t o people who had
made a major contribution to the University
over the last three decades. Four H onorary
Fellows were created for distinguished andoutstanding service to WMU:
• Vice-A dmiral E isuke K udo, Japan C oast
G uard (Ret .), Special Adviser, O cean
Policy Research Foundation• I lmar Reepalu, Former C hairman of theM almö C ity E xecutive Board and L ord
Mayor of Malmö• N ils Yngvesson, Former Chairman of the
M al m ö C i ty E xecu ti ve B oar d an d
F ormer M ember of t h e M almö C it yCouncil• M i chael G rey, i nternati onal m ari ti m ewriter and journalist.

A highlight of the ceremony was the conferralof the degree of Doctor of Science in Maritime
A ﬀ ai rs, h onori s causa, on M r. E fth i m i os
M itropoulos, W M U Chancellor E meritus andformer I M O Secretary-G eneral, for his excep tional service to the University. e Chancellor
went on to confer Master of Science degrees on
106 students graduating from the M almöbased M.Sc. program in Maritime Aﬀairs, and28 from the distance- learning Postgraduate
D iploma in M arine Insurance. e students
who graduated earlier in the year from theShanghai and D alian programs were represented by the top student in each class.
D uring the ceremony, the annual student
awards for out st anding performance wereannounced. e C hancellor's M edal for Aca demic E xcellence for the M almö program wasaw ard ed to A n al i a V i g g i an o ( Sasak aw a
Fellow) of the Argentine Coast G uard, who

Professor M agnus Addico of G hana, President of the African Maritime Advisory Centerand un t il 2012, Secret ary- G eneral of t h e
M aritime O rganisation for W est and Central
Africa (M O W C A), received the 2013 O utst anding Alumnus Award, and D r. P et er
Muirhead and D r. P.K. Mukherjee were both
appointed Professor E meritus.

Share the Future: Award Ceremony
for Sasakawa Fellows
Lyndell Lundahl
Student Services Officer
World Maritime University

e beautiful Fridhemsborg mansion was once
again this year the impressive venue for theannual award ceremony for graduating Sasakawa
Fellows. Friday, November 22, 2013, saw the 23
graduands, ﬁrst-year Sasakawa students,
University faculty, staﬀ and distinguished guests
gather for the traditional ceremony.
Representing e Nippon Foundation/O cean
Policy Research Foundation were Mitsuyuki
Unno, Executive Director of e Nippon
Foundation; Eisuke Kudo, Special Advisor of
the OPRF; Shinichi Ichikawa, Section Chief ofthe Maritime Aﬀairs Division of the Maritime
Technology Department of O PRF; andTomoyuki H ashimoto, Manager, Maritime
Safety & Education Team, Maritime Aﬀairs
Department of e Nippon Foundation. e
Ceremony was also attended by the Mayor of
Malmö, Mr Kent Andersson and his wife, andleading the University faculty and staﬀ was
President Björn Kjerfve.
Mr Unno addressed the graduands, encouraging them in their new role as Sasakawa Fellows.

e network they now joined epitomizes e
Nippon Foundation’s core goal of social
innovation to achieve mutual support. Sharing
experiences, knowledge and support will enable
new Fellows to work as agents of change in theirhome countries and in the maritime industry.
Continuing help and involvement from theFoundation was pledged to its new “family
members”.
Responding on behalf of the students, Amr
M oneer Ibrahim from Egypt noted some of thediﬀerences between the graduands: a lawyer fromthe Solomon Islands, a Coast Guard O ﬃcer from
Argentina, a university lecturer from E gypt.
W hat they now had in common – thanks to the
support received from the Foundation - was a
wealth of experience from the W orld M aritime
University, a network of friends and colleagues allover the world and a “family base” as Sasakawa
Fellows to help and support each other in the
future. It was a responsibility they would gladly
shoulder. “We are the latest gear in the Sasakawa

3

Fellows’ train”, he said, encouraging his fellow
graduands to rem ain active in th e moth er
network, the Friends of WMU, Japan.
e 23 graduands received their certiﬁcates togreat applause. e ceremony was particularly
signiﬁcant as the 23 new Fellows brought the
total number of W MU graduates directly sponsored by e Nippon Foundation to 510. It wasagreed we should look forward to the next 500!
A Japanese-style buﬀet dinner followed, allowing the graduands the opportunity to meet andchat with the distinguished guests, their juniorstudent colleagues and W M U faculty and staﬀ
members. e friendly atmosphere was punctu ated by the clinking of glasses as the graduands
were congratulated and wished good luck, andby the ubiquitous “one more! one more!” as cameras ﬂashed to record the moment.
Another successful group of Sasakawa Fellows,
another graduation. New opportunities to sharethe future.

e Role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
in the International Shipping Sector

Linda CoadyD i s t i n g u i s h e d Fe l l o w , L i u
Institute for Global Issues,
University of British Columbia(UBC)e maritime shipping sector is facing growing
social and environmental regulations and advocacy
pressures that are transforming technologies andshifting business practices. e emerging sustain ability compliance landscape includes both public
regulation and private voluntary initiatives.
e objec tive of this research is to improve understanding of the implications of the rise of voluntary
corporate social responsibility (CSR) collaborations
and initiatives in the shipping industry, both interms of the issues addressed by these initiatives andthe interaction between voluntary and regulatory
mechanisms aimed at improving social and environmental performance. A further objective is toreceive industry feedback on a draft CSR Framework for the international shipping industry, as a
guide to companies and industry associations interested in engaging in CSR activities.
M anaging sustainability pressures is an increasingly critical strategic challenge for ensuring
growth and value across all business sectors. e
shipping industry faces new demands for greatertransparency and accountability on issues such as
global climate change, energy eﬃciency, waste
management, worker safety, security, ocean andcoastal health, and local community impacts andbeneﬁts. Given its global nature, the international
shipping sector also faces unique challenges inmanaging its sustainability risks and performance.
ese ch allenges include a high level of fragmentation within the industry itself, and a frequent lackof coordination in regulations within and acrossinternational, regional, and national policy levels.
e rise of voluntary CSR collaborations, initia tives and standards is resulting in an even more
hybridized regulatory regime. H owever, the emergence of CSR activities in the shipping sector isalso presenting opportunities to access beneﬁts
provided by new practices and strategies. ese canin clude reduced busin ess t ran sact ion costs,
improvements in eﬃciency and risk management,
attraction and retention of employees, access to
new capital and markets, and enhanced brandreputation.
is research further considers current andemerging social and environmental impacts andopportunities for the shipping sector as increasingly
identiﬁed and included in CSR frameworks andgreen rating schemes being adopted by companies,

customers, investors and other stakeholders. Shipping industry representatives were asked, in particular, for feedback and advice on the draft C SR
framework for their sector.
Based on an evaluation of the coverage and interaction between public regulation and voluntary
initiatives on sustainability issues in the broader
maritime sector, together with interviews with shipping industry representatives, this report provides an
overview of current CSR activity in the sector, areview of industry perceptions of CSR, and an
examination of the role it could play in addressing
new competitive challenges in the shipping sector.
e following seven key ﬁndings are identiﬁed:
1. ere is a need for more proactive manage ment to deal with increased complexity in bothpublic regulation and private self-regulation
through voluntary measures and standards.
2. ere is a need for more collaboration tomaintain business value and competitiveness.
3. Failure to achieve an optimum level of convergence and coherence will lead to greater confusion, ineﬃciency and disparity in performanceacross the sector.
4. e CSR framework developed through thisresearch is comprehensive and valuable.
5. Common CSR metrics and systems are desirable.
6. G uidance on stakeholder engagement isworthwhile.
7. ere is a need for better understanding of
emerging C SR priorities among shipping
industry customers and investors.
In order to better position the maritime sector to
anticipate sustainability pressures, and the atten dant risk exposure, the following three actions arerecommended.
1. Establish a global Centre of Excellence on
C SR in Sh ipping through collaboration
between industry and all associated stakeholders, including relevant internationalorganizations, such as IM O . e C entre of
Excellence could provide a network for connecting industry, government and academics
as well as customers and investors on CSR
issues and opportunities. is institutionalarrangement could also function as a researchand capacity building hub, coordinating anddisseminating information that advances
both theory and practice.
2. Utilizing the C SR framework developed
through this research, develop a core guide4

or toolkit for C SR implemen tat ion t h at
includes performance metrics and best practice in stakeholder engagement.
3. D evelop a global portfolio of pilot projects
that test the business case for CSR in shipping. D isseminate information regarding
each project or case study while systematically identifying key steps to building diﬀerent models for CSR in the shipping sector
that can be relevant to diﬀerent componentsof the industry but particularly to small-tomedium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Acknowledgementse Researchers would like to thank e Nippon
Foundation and the University of British Columbia for funding this project. W e are grateful to
our Research Assistants Asha John, Jonathon
G amu, and D r. Yoshinobu T akei for their contribution, as well as to Julie W agemakers, Deputy
D irector of the Liu Institute and the staﬀ at theInstitute for their coordinating support. Finally,
we would like to recognize and thank D r. PeterD auvergne, D irector of the Liu Institute; M r.
M itsuyuki Unno, E xecutive D irector of e
Nippon Foundation; M r. Tadayuki Uemura andM r. N oriaki Usui at the Japan International
T ran sport I n st it ut e (JI T I ); an d D r. H an s
H ansen, H ead of O rganization and M anagemen t St ud ies at t h e C open h agen Busin ess
School (CBS).

Prepared with
Dr. Jane Lister, Senior Research Fellow, Liu
Institute for Global Issues, UBC
Coro Strandberg, Principal, Strandberg
Consulting
Dr. Yoshitaka Ota, Co-Director, NF-UBC
Nereus Program Fisheries, UBC
Prepared for
The Northern European Symposium on CSR
in Shipping
Copenhagen, Denmark, November 12, 2013
Convened by
The Nippon Foundation (NF), the JapaneseInternational Transport Institute (JITI), theBaltic and International Maritime Council(BIMCO), the World Maritime University(WMU) and the Danish Shipowners’
Association (DSA)

Marine Pollution Prevention Program on HNS in Manila
Roben Navarro De Guzman (Philippines, 2009)
e recently concluded “Japan Association ofMarine Safety (JAMS) Marine Pollution Prevention Program on H azardous and N oxious Substances (H NS)” jointly hosted by JAM S and thePhilippine Coast G uard (PCG ) became a venue
for the fellowship of four W MU graduates, eachsuccessful in his chosen ﬁeld of specialization:
Commo Joel S G arcia PCG , Al-H aj Commander, Marine Environmental Protection Command (W M U 1996); Commander Roben N de
G uzman PC G , D eputy C hief of C oast G uard
Staﬀ for MEP, CG-9 (Philippines, 2009); Mohd
Fairoz Bin Rozali, Principal Assistant D irector,
M arine Environment Protection Unit, Safety of
N avigation D ivision in M alaysia (M alaysia,
2006); and Nguyen H ai Nam (Vietnam, 2002).
e Prevention Program, held at the Diamond
H otel on November 19-20, 2013, is an extensionof the three-year JAMS program since 2010,

under the auspices of e N ippon Foundation,
wherein the PCG is one of the recipients of said
initiative. M oreover, JAM S has continuously
supported other ASE AN countries to realize
capacity building for marine environmental protection and disaster prevention since 1990, by holding
workshops that promote the development of H NS
contingency plans and training for personnel
engaged in H NS control at the scene of the inciden t.
e organization also hopes th at th esetries. It is such a rare opportunity for W M U
programs will contribute to the preservation of themarine environment in the region and in the estab- graduates to get together in a collective eﬀort
towards country development and the establishlishment of a network among ASEAN countries.
e W M U graduates shared their experiences ment of a network among ASEAN countries.
Being a W orld Maritime University graduate isafter graduation and were very glad to hear theira privilege and honor to a maritime oﬃcer, in that
respective proliﬁc endeavors towards success. ey
U is thecenterof excellence
for maritime
alsoFromsharedtheirregardingthe Mr.
workshop
and W
left:
Mr.views
NguyenHai Nam,Mohd Fairoz
BinMRozali,
and
CDR Roben
N De Guzman
its contribution to the development of H NS capac- post-graduate education and research.
ity and capability building in their respective coun-

which will be essential instruments for the
WMU Graduates at the 28th IMO Assembly maritime
ﬁeld in the coming years. is being

Tomoyuki Nakazono (Japan, 2005)

the 30th anniversary since W M U was established, continuous support towards the University
was agreed upon for the next two years.
A lot of W M U grad u at es an d Sasakawa
Fellows took part in this Assembly as delegates of
their countries and played signiﬁcant roles fortheir nations and the world maritime society,taking advantage of their knowledge and experiences. N ot only is this Assembly the supremestage for world maritime conventions, it also
provides graduates with valuable opportunities to
W M U graduates, including Sasakawa Fellows,
intensive discussions in two designated commit - get together, exchange information and reconmet at the 28th IM O Assembly, which was held tees, were ﬁnally adopted at the plenary meeting ﬁrm relationships and networking among them.
from N ovember 25 to D ecember 4, 2013, in held on the last day of the Assembly.
Just like last year, the period leading up to the
London. M ore than 1,100 delegates, including
e adopted issues include resolutions such as the
29th Assembly in 2015 will have a number ofministers and high-level oﬃcers from the minis- IMO Instrument Implementation Code (III Code); meetings and discussions at IM O , with numertries in charge of maritime issues from 159 member Application of the International Convention for the ous eﬀorts by the participants towards safer ships
states, and others from related bodies attended.
Control and M anagement of Ships' Ballast W ater an d clean er ocean s. e relat ion sh ips an d
D uring these two weeks, issues that had been and Sediments, 2004; Prevention and suppression of networking of the graduates reconﬁrmed at this
discussed by all IM O Committees in the past two piracy, armed robbery against ships and illicit mari- Assembly are expected to be important elements
time activity in the Gulf of Guinea; and others,
years were placed on the agenda, and, throughtowards those eﬀorts.

Field Trip to London, IMO

M eanwhile, 2 working groups and 2 draftinggroups were established for further discussions. We
mainly observed plenary sessions and had an
Yusuke Mori (Japan, 2014)
opportunity to meet the Secretary-general, M r.
Koji Sekimizu, on Wednesday. At IM O , a lot of
W MU graduates participated as delegates of theircountries. O n the last day of H T W 1, we took a
picture with M r. Sugomori (Japan, 2010), M r.
Saito (Japan, 2004), Prof. H ikima and Prof. Nakazawa. At the Nautical Institute, we were given an
explanation about the history, objectives, services
and beneﬁts of the Institute towards its members.
rough t h e exp erien ce at t h e I M O sub O n F eb. 16, 18 M arit im e E ducat ion an d
N autical Institute in London. At the H T W committee, we learnt the processes and strategies ofT raining specialized students left Copenhagen subcommittee, the following topics were mainly each delegate. W e could listen to and get involvedin a ‘real’ debate at IMO , and we understood that
Airport for London on our ﬁrst ﬁeld trip with discussed:
Professor M ichael M anuel as leader. e objec 1. the training requirements for oﬃcers and leadership and the personalities of individuals
t ive of th e ﬁeld t rip was to at ten d t h e ﬁrst
crew on board ships using gases or low ﬂash- inﬂuence debates and discussions at the committee.
I am sure that all of us now have as an objective tosession of the IM O sub-committee on H umanpoint fuels.
Element, Training and W atchkeeping (H TW 1)
2. the training requirements in line with the return to IM O in the near future as a delegate of
our country, fully equipped with skills and knowl(restructured from ST W ) as observers, held
Polar Code.
edge obtained at WMU.
from Feb. 17-21, and in addition, to visit the3. Validation of IM O model courses.

6
Colombo Port Expansion Project, New Gateway for Sri Lanka
Manjula Hettiarachchie(Sri Lanka, 2012)e Colombo Port E xpansion Project of Sri
Lanka, which is the ﬁrst stage of the Colombo
H arbour Expansion Project, was declared open
on August 5, 2013. Sri Lanka is an island situated in close proximity to major shipping routes
connecting south Asia, the Far East and the
Paciﬁc with Europe and the Americas. erefore, this nature of infrastructure development
will immensely help Sri Lanka to fortify its geographical advantage by being the hub port in theregion, which is close to the fast- growing
economies of the Indian sub-continent and to
Southeast Asia.
e port, built in partnership between the Sri
Lankan government and C hina M erchant
H oldings International, is designed to handle
the biggest T riple- E C lass vessels carrying
18,000 container units and will be the only port

in South Asia with a deep water terminal formega container ships. e ﬁrst container termi nal, out of three to be done under phase one of
the Colombo Port Expansion Project, was built
by the private sector as a Public Private Partnership under a Build, Operate, and Transfer basis.
Each one has 1200m length, 18m depth, and acapacity of 2.4m T EU per annum facilities toaccommodate 3 berths alongside the quay.
is has increased the handling capacity of con tainers at the H arbour to 12 million TEU’s in the
Port of Colombo. e new terminal was built
after reclaiming around 600 hectares from thesea. It has a depth suﬃcient to anchor even thelargest vessel in the world. e length of themain breakwater and secondary breakwater is 6.8
kilometers. e turning basin is 260 hectares.
About 4000 ships call at the Colombo H arbour

annually. at number will rise to 8,000 10,000 following the expansion. e Colombo
Port Expansion Project was launched in 2008
with the view of attracting and accommodating
mega container carriers for distribution andserving as a hub port. e harbour, with its 18m
depth, a two-way access channel of 20m depth
and a 46m high new Port Control T ower, isequipped with modern technology. In addition
to the above advancements, a well-developed
road network and access to container operator
services will help immensely to attract new
ships.

Maritime Labour Convention 2006 - Bangladesh Perspective
Khalid Mahmud (Bangladesh, 2007)

Whilst decent working and living conditions onboard ships is the demand and right of all
seafarers, MLC 2006 is well accepted by mariners as a satisfactory mechanism for the Maritime Labour Standard. H ence, would it be possible for Bangladesh to accelerate its ratiﬁcationof M LC 2006? Although the scope of the
Maritime Labour Convention 2006 is treated as
suitable to Bangladeshi seafarers, a ﬁeld par
excellence of seafarers and Administration
decided to analyze its legal framework.
Consequently, a National T echnical Committee was formed by the Bangladesh Governmen t in 2008, wit h me as t he membersecretary. We took eight months to prepare ananalogy between MLC 2006 and the Bangladesh M erchant Shipping O rdinance 1983.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sajid H ussain

IMO Secretary General H .E. Koji Sekimizu
visited the Bangladesh M arine Academy on
June 25, 2013, and met with WMU fellows andthe Maritime Administration. H e addressed the
Friends of WMU, Bangladesh, and emphasized
the Fellows' contribution to our nation, especially on MLC 2006 implementation. Mr. Sekimizu had a special session with Bangladeshi
Sasakawa Fellows. Meanwhile, Captain Naoki
Saito, Manager, Class NK (Japan, 2004), visitedthe DG of the Bangladesh Maritime Administration to promote the preparation of M LC
2006, and arranged a seminar at Chittagong on
September 11, 2013.
Finally, the MLC 2006 ratiﬁcation process(Commandant) and I were assigned as MLC
wasapproved by the National Tripartite Conconsultants by the ILO , undertaking a study
sultative
Council in August 2013, and the Banreport on t he comprehensive gap analysis
gladeshGovernment
approved ratiﬁcation on
between these two legal regimes.
Notwithstanding the fact that the stakeholders January 27, 2014.
had diﬀering perceptions of MLC 2006 implementation, we conducted direct interviews ofdiﬀerent groups, and stat istical data wereprepared by questionnaire. Two workshops wereconducted in 2012 with expert representationfrom ILO, where MLC inspectors, Classiﬁcation
Societies, seafarers, unions, as well as employers
and agencies participated. As a whole, we theconsultants did not ﬁnd any measurable negativeeﬀects of MLC 2006 provisions, nor was there
compelling evidence that time was required forstandardization, as we mentioned in our ﬁnal
report.

6

7
Catching Up with Old Friends
Poppy Sartika (Indonesia, 2009)

It has been 5 years since my graduation fromW M U in 2009, and quite a while since I had achance to meet M r. Yohei Sasakawa on his lastvisit to Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2010. At that time I
was in my 7th month of pregnancy and so excited
to see him.
is January, most Sasakawa Fellows in Indonesia received an email from M s. Chikako Awazu,
informing us that M r. Sasakawa would pay a visit
to Jakarta for the grand launching of the G lobal
Appeal to E nd Stigm a and D iscrimination
Against People Aﬀected by Leprosy, anotherNippon Foundation program on human rights.
Upon receiving this email, all of a sudden, messages appeared on Facebook, telling other Fellows

standing his tight schedule.
e program started at 18:45, and M r. Sasakawa
was kind enough to spend an hour of his precious
time. In his remarks, he stated how very happy he
was to meet Sasakawa Fellows in Jakarta, eventhough not all of the Indonesian Chapter could
join, as some were quite far away. H e was so
excited to hear that most Fellows had good positions in their career. Furthermore, he reminded usthat maritime aﬀairs would always remain an
important issue in economic development. As theIndonesian shipping industry grows exponentiallyto accommodate local and world demand, seafarers’ competency should be highlighted as a main
issue under government frameworks in order topromote secure and safe shipping on cleaner
about the visit. I am sure that many of us checked oceans, and Sasakawa Fellows should play a big
our schedules to ensure we would have time to role under the M inistry of T ransportation. H emeet M r. Sasakawa, even those of us who lived in closed the discussion by relaying a warm, happy
New Year’s greeting to all Fellows from everybody
other provinces.
O n the day, 8 of us could actually make it, with at e Nippon Foundation in Japan.
Since it was a rare, intense discussion, none of us
M r. H eru Prasetyo as the senior Fellow (1992),
followed by M s. Retno W indari (2001), M s. D yah remembered to take any pictures. H owever,Umiyarti (2004), M r. Rifanie Komara (2007), M r. thanks to M s. Natsuko Tominaga, we ﬁnally were
Arizal H endriawan (2008), M s. Poppy Sartika able to get our one and only picture with M r.
(that’s me!! 2009), M s. Amin N urjannah (2011) Sasakawa. W e hope to have other meetings, notand M r. G us Rional (2011), most of us coming only with M r. Sasakawa, but also with all e
from the M inistry of T ransportation. M r. Kat- Nippon Foundation staﬀ, Sasakawa Fellows, andother alumni of W M U. Please do not hesitate tosuhiro M otoyama of e N ippon Foundation
informed us that M r. Sasakawa was very pleased to contact us if you want to visit Jakarta or Indonesia.
spend some time with Sasakawa Fellows, notwith-

Meeting Again after More an ree Years…
Sonia B. Malaluan (Philippines, 1998)

It has been more than three years since I wasable to attend a get- together of M ARIN A W M U Sasakawa Fellows, the last being during
the ST CW D iplomatic Conference in M anila inJune of 2010.
A dinner- meeting was held on January 28,
2014, in M an ila, organ ized by M r. Kazuo
Kotani, JICA Expert on Ship Safety Policy and
M ar it im e I n d u st r y M o d er n iza t i o n in
M ARIN A, in cooperation with M r. M asahiro
Uesono, former JIC A expert in M ARIN A andnow D irector, International Aﬀairs O ﬃce, Shipbuilding and Ship M achinery D ivision, M ari-

O ur Japanese guests, aside from M r. Kotani and
M r. Uesono, were M r. Akihiko Ikeda, D irector,
Shipbuilding D ivision, Japan E xternal T rade
O rganization (JE T RO ), Singapore, and M r.
Tomonori Okamura, Professor, National Institutefor Sea Training, Ship M anagement Bureau. M r.
O kamura is also a WM U Sasakawa Fellow (Japan,
2002). It was the ﬁrst time we met M r. Uesono
since he left M ARINA in 2010 and also the ﬁrst
meeting of the group with M r. Kotani.
M r. Ikeda, together with the other Japanese
guests, were in M anila for the Japan Railway Construction and T echnology Agency W orkshop on
E ﬀective Re-utilization of Japanese D omestic
Ships in the Philippines.
e Japanese contingent, through M r. Ikeda,
time Bureau, M inistry of Land, Infrastructure,and the M ARIN A- W M U Sasakawa Fellows,
T ransport and Tourism of Japan.
It was attended by the following M ARIN A - through me, re- aﬃrmed our commitment to
W M U Sasakawa Fellows: Ninfa M artinez (1997), support Japan-Philippine cooperation, particuM aria Teresa M amisao (2006), Rodolfo R. Diawa larly in the areas of shipping/ maritime. e(2006), M a. Sot erania Siñ el (2013), Jabet h Fellows prepared a small token to express ourD acanay (2003), C hristine San L uis (1999), congratulatory messages and wishes for M r.
Rowena H ubilla (2009), Josephine Castillo (2010), Eisuke Kudo. W e likewise expressed our sincere
Valentino Ferre (1994), Virvic Erese (2011), Zaldy appreciation and gratitude to O P RF , JIC A,
M aquera (1998), Sonia B. M alaluan (1998), M arc M LIT and JET RO for such a rare opportunity.
Pascua (2012), Rizal Victoria (2010), Jerdini Sibal I t was in deed a won derful even in g, wh ich(2011), Luisito D elos Santos (2008), and Ronaldo wouldn’t be complete without the usual group
picture.
Bandalaria (2005).

PhD Student Life at Kobe University
Tam Thi Anh Tran
(Vietnam, 2011)

My PhD esis Project is funded by the Ministryof Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, through the Japanese Government, namelya M onbukagakusho or M EXT Scholarship. It
takes almost one year since starting the application
process to receive the scholarship notiﬁcation.
ere are two ways to get a M EXT Scholarship,
either via a university or embassy recommendation.
In my case, it was the latter. I had to submit myapplication, take a written test, have an interview
at the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, then anotherinterview at Kobe University. e important factor,
in my experience, for a PhD candidate to succeed ingetting a scholarship is to submit a well-preparedresearch proposal and a recommendation letter topotential supervisors. It took me several months toﬁnd a supervisor with the same research interests
and to convince him of my abilities. After passing allthese steps, in December 2012, I received the notiﬁcation of scholarship from the Japanese Embassy.
Since last spring, a normal day for me in Kobe
starts with waking up at 7am, running along the
H AT Kobe Pier for an hour, and getting to schoolaround 10:00. I usually go back home at 7pm. In

Japan, the laboratory, which includes a group of
students, conducts research projects under one
professor’s supervision. We have 7 students: 5 Japanese, 1 Chinese, and 1 Vietnamese. So, normally
we exchange academic information and communicate in Japanese. As for international students, it is
optional to conduct research in English. Before
coming here, I was advised to be well-prepared forthe industrialized working style in Japan. After
working at the laboratory, I have learned more
about Japanese teamwork and dedication to thejob. Every day, under Professor T akebayashi’s
supervision, I work harder and harder to achieve
my goal.

e Journey Continues
very slow, particularly when compared with otherareasof shipping. Since its establishment in 1995,
Carolyn Grahamth e Seafarers International Research C entre(Jamaica, 2008)(SIRC), at Cardiﬀ University, has developed an
impressive “portfolio” of research into seafarers’ lives,
particularly as it concerns occupational health andSeafarers are the least resilient in the maritime safety. i s centre can be described as the “go to”
world to… economic sh ocks. e y are most place for research on a wide range of matters aﬀectvulnerable in their remoteness from the law, uncer- ing various aspects of seafarers’ experiences. SIRC
tain of their relationships and status in a multicul- continues to bring to the forefront critical areas oftural social structure, and all suﬀer from a lack of concern and to provide quality data to guide policy
regular communication with their families. ismaking on the welfare and occupational health andmarginalization of seafarers as a section of the safety of seafarers.
world working population renders them even more
Another important aspect of SIRC is the training
vulnerable to economic exploitation than in the of D octoral C andidates from various countries
past. (Couper, et. al. 1999 p.3)
around the world. ese candidates have been
Seafaring continues to be what could be described enabled by e Nippon Foundation through four as a precarious occupation. Although some strides year fellowships. Nippon Fellows have contributed
have been made in addressing welfare issues, such to the important research coming out of SIRC
as the coming into eﬀect of the Maritime Labour t h rough t h eir t h eses, or upon graduation as
Convention (MLC) 2006, the process has been
researchers at SIRC, or in institutions in their homecountries or elsewhere around the world.
I am fortunate to be among the beneﬁciaries of a
N ippon Foundation Fellowship to pursue thedoctoral programme at SIRC . As a Sasakawa
Fellow, having graduated from the W orld M aritime University, I am grateful that e N ippon
Foundation has again supported my studies topursue research into seafarers’ lives. I am currently
in my ﬁrst year, completing a diploma in social
science research methods, and a further three years
will see m e fu lly im m ersed in t o t h e P h D
programme. M y area of interest continues to beseafarers’ welfare, particularly working conditions
and issues aﬀecting occupational health and safety,
which has implications for overall safety at sea.
Reference:
Couper, A. D ., W alsh, C. J., Stanberry, B. A.
and Boerne, G . L. (1999). Voyages of abuse:seafarers, human rights and international shipping.
London: Pluto Press.

D irectory of the WMU Sasakawa Fellows
On two previous occasions we updated and published the Directory of personal information in the Fellows’ D irectory at the W M U JapanWMU Sasakawa Fellows. Around August this year we again intend to website at (http://www.wmu.sof.or.jp) as soon as possible.
publish a new directory that will include all WM U Sasakawa Fellows If you have any questions, please contact the Secretariat by email at:from the class of 1989 to the class of 2015.
wmujapan@sof.or.jp
We therefore ask all Sasakawa Fellows to promptly update their
Friends of WMU, Japan Secretariat OPRF

Editor’s noteAs stated in Newsletter No. 45, we gathered Sasakawa Fellows in and aroundAccra, Ghana, in November 2013 and held a regional conference. At that time I
had the opportunity to participate as a facilitator and lecturer presenting a special
lecture.
At the conference I briefed participants on the current conditions of maritime
education institutions and seamen in Asia and Europe, and we learned that thesituation was much the same in Africa. e refore, we were again able to conﬁrm
that the lack of experienced seamen and instructors was a problem shared theworld over.
D uring my time abroad, I also had the opportunity to deepen friendships andhold discussions with students of the M ET course, W M U graduates in othercourses I taught, and Sasakawa Fellows in a private capacity during my visit tolocal areas in Asian countries. H owever, this was my ﬁrst time to attend a conference of this scale in Africa with 21 people from 10 countries in attendance.
During the conference, participants presented reports on recent activities of

Sasakawa Fellows in various countries in Asia and on requests for the newsletter and, before the conference ended, came to an agreement on a plan for the
future of Africa’s alumni. I had been somewhat concerned up until then as towhether the opinions of the graduates of 10 countries across vast Africa could be
consolidated in an expression of unity, but thanks to the strong bond shared byfellow members of H enrik Smith H ostel and WMU, they managed to concur inthe adoption of resolutions. I was truly impressed by their splendid show of unityand felt a deep sense of admiration watching this event unfold.
It was a week during which I felt honored and privileged to be an instructor,
and I look forward to holding discussions locally in Africa again with such committed Fellows.

Prof. Toshio Hikima
Marine Technical College

Toranomon 35 Mori Building, 3-4-10 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001 JAPAN
Tel: +81-(0)3-5404-6843 Fax: +81-(0)3-5404-6800 URL: http://www.sof.or.jp/