The critical link between shipping and global society is the main focus for this year’s World Maritime Day theme: "Shipping: indispensable to the world". The theme for 2016 was launched by IMO Secretary-General Lim as he opened the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (18 January).
Mr. Lim said that without shipping, importing and exporting goods on the scale necessary to sustain the modern world would simply not be possible. He encouraged Member States and the entire shipping community to join in this opportunity to promote shipping to a global audience and to raise awareness of the relevance of the role of IMO as the global regulatory body for international shipping.