Elektrans Global

 IMO’s International Maritime Prize 2014 – awarded to Nippon Foundation’s Mr. Sasakawa.

The International Maritime Prize is awarded annually by the IMO Council to the individual or organization judged to have made the most significant contribution to the work and objectives of IMO.

The International Maritime prize consists of a sculpture in the form of a dolphin and also includes a financial award. In addition the awardee is invited to publish a scientific paper on a topic related to the work of the IMO which is published in the organization’s quarterly magazine.

The International Maritime Prize for 2014 was presented to Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman, The Nippon Foundation, during a ceremony held at IMO on the 23rd of November, 2015.

IMO Secretary – General highlighted Mr. Sasakawa’s long standing dedication to maritime education and training through the initiatives of the Nippon Foundation and its unstinting support to the World Maritime University (WMU), based in Malmo, Sweden and the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta.

Mr. Sasakawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, and joined the Nippon Foundation as a trustee in 1981. He served as President from 1989 and became Chairman on 1st July 2005. The Nippon Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation whose mission, through social innovation, is to achieve a society where all people support one another. Its overall objectives include assistance for humanitarian activities, both in Japan and overseas, and global maritime development.

Mr. Sasakawa’s leadership of Nippon Foundation’s effort to improve the quality of maritime experts around the world by supporting WMU is tremendous. Since 1987, the “WMU Sasakawa Fellowship”, sponsored by the Nippon Foundation, has offered fellowships to students for the two year Master’s degree program.

Mr. Sasakawa has also worked with other international institutions, including IMLI, the UN Division of Oceans and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Today, there is a network of over 1000 Sasakawa/Nippon Foundation Fellows from more than 131 countries, including India.

Further contributions have been made in the field of maritime safety, security and marine environment protection. To name a few:

•   Supporting the establishment of the co-operative mechanism in the straits of Malacca and Singapore,
•  Funding to establish the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia- Pacific Region (Tokyo MOU);
• Support for coastguard activities and training in the Asian region;
• Support for research and technological development projects on maritime safety and marine environment protection, including emissions from ships, Northern Sea route; etc.

A number of WMU graduates from India have benefited from the Nippon Foundation fellowships offered to them, as this made it possible to provide the financial support for pursuing their studies at WMU.

We now extend our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Sasakawa for receiving the IMO International Maritime Prize for 2014. We are grateful to Nippon Foundation and Mr. Sasakawa for their yeoman’s service to the maritime sector and in particular for providing fellowships to a number of Indian students at WMU.