The IMO Secretary General, Mr Kitack Lim, has announced a new initiative to mark the World Maritime theme each year, beginning with the theme for 2021, "Seafarers: at the core of shippingʹs future". 

The IMO intends to light up the IMO building, in particular the Seafarer Memorial outside the IMO Headquarters in London, in the IMO/maritime blue colour on every World Maritime Day from now on, beginning with this yearʹs celebration on 30 September 2021. 

The Secretary-General has invited all IMO Member States, intergovernmental organisations and non-governmental organisations in consultative status (like the IMRF) to join in this annual initiative by lighting up their most iconic buildings, bridges, maritime ports, ships, monuments, museums and other emblematic landmarks on World Maritime Day each year. 

The initiative is a symbolic effort to unite the maritime community with the aim of raising awareness of the vital contribution of shipping to the world. 

In order to give visibility to this project, social media participation is encouraged via Twitter to share these powerful images by using the hashtags #WorldMaritimeDay. Photographs can also be sent to: [email protected].

It would be great if IMRF members could participate in this initiative and share their images with us and through social media.

We hope to publish some of them in a future edition of the SAR Hub and on the IMRF website. So, get thinking about which iconic ship or landmark that your organisation can light up on 30 September 2021!