The IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) commences its 28th academic year on Monday, 17 October 2016 which will witness a record number of students attending its various programmes. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lesotho are being represented for the first time in its Master of Laws (LL.M.) programme in International Maritime Law, whilst Belarus has registered its first participation, having a student enrolled in the Advanced Diploma programme in International Maritime Law.

Moreover, this academic year marks the commencement of two new programmes which were launched in 2016, namely the Master of Humanities (M.Hum.) in International Maritime Legislation and the Master of Science (M.Sc.) in International Maritime law and Logistics undertaken in collaboration with the Kuhne Logistics University (KLU) in Germany.

These two new programmes demonstrate IMLI’s innovation and intuition in responding to the training needs of IMO Member States, especially developing countries. The teaching of these two very informative programmes will no doubt fill the existing gaps regarding the challenges faced by countries concerning the incorporation of international maritime and other relevant conventions into their national laws and the need of professionals in the maritime sector to understand the legal and logistics intricacies of maritime operations in ports and other maritime infrastructure, respectively.

This academic year records IMLI’s 28 years of excellence, serving the interest of IMO Member States and of the international community at large. Since its inception, the Institute has trained over 830 students from 136 countries. This network of IMLI graduates is found all over the world contributing to the fulfillment of IMO goals, and, as noted by the Secretary-General of the IMO, Mr. Kitack Lim, during the 27th graduation ceremony.

“Whether in commercial industry, international organizations, institutions or at IMO, an IMLI graduate’s path to success is a well-worn one. We owe our gratitude to an Institute – complete with all of its staff and many supporters and donors that, for nearly three decades, has been one of the cornerstones of IMO’s mission to enhance and build global capacity within the maritime sector. “

The Director, the faculty and staff of the Institute would like to warmly welcome the IMLI Class of 2016-2017 to the Institute and wish them a successful academic year.