In its recent 102 session in London, The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed that next year's theme for World Maritime Day will be "2010: Year of the Seafarer," proposed by IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos. The theme - to be celebrated throughout the year and at a World Maritime Day parallel event in Argentina - was selected to give IMO and the international maritime community the opportunity to pay tribute to the world's seafarers. "The…hazards confronting the 1.5 million seafarers of the world - including pirate attacks, unwarranted detention and abandonment - coupled with the predicted looming shortage of ships' officers, make it ever more incumbent to take immediate and effective action to forestall a situation from developing in which ships are not manned with sufficient skilled personnel," Mitropoulos said.