News International Maritime Association

September 29 - World Sea Day (29.09.2022)

2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) since the adoption of the Convention on its establishment and the theme of World Maritime Day.

We remind you that since 2008, the European Commission has declared May 20 the European Day of the Sea. National Maritime Day in the USA is celebrated on May 22. On this day in 1819, the American steamer Savannah set off from Savannah, Georgia, on its first transoceanic voyage. Sea Day in Japan is July 16. Until 1996, this state holiday was called the Holiday of the Sea or the Day of Remembrance of the Sea. National Day of the Sea in Mexico is celebrated on June 1. In China, this holiday is celebrated on July 11. In Bolivia, Sea Day is celebrated on March 23. The events of the World Sea Day unite all countries.

This is one of the international days in the United Nations system. It has been celebrated since 1978 by the decision of the 10th session of the Assembly of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) on the last Thursday of September.

The purpose of World Sea Day is to draw the attention of the international community to the irreparable damage caused to the seas and oceans by overfishing, pollution of water bodies and global warming. The two most important tasks are to improve safety at sea and prevent pollution of the marine environment, particularly by oil.

About 70% of the planet is covered with water. The biomass of all marine inhabitants - from algae to blue whales - makes up 90% of the biomass of all living organisms on the planet. The existence of most representatives of various types of marine flora and fauna is associated with coral reefs.

According to the UN, over the past 100 years, such types of fish as tuna, cod, and marlin have been caught by 90%. About 21 million barrels of oil spill into seas and oceans every year. Synthetic waste discharged into large bodies of water kills millions of seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year. Due to global warming, the water level in the large reservoirs of the planet has risen by 10-25 cm over the past 100 years.

Every year, a theme and theses are chosen for activities under the auspices of the international event - Day of the Sea. These are available on imo.org, for example the theme of World Maritime Day 2017 is "Connecting Ships, Ports and People". It was chosen to provide an opportunity to focus on various ports involved in shipping support and logistics.

In 2022, World Maritime Day falls on September 29.