2010: The "Year of the Seafarer"
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.