World Marine Aids to Navigation Day 1 July 2021
As with past years World Marine Aids to Navigation Day was celebrated by the organisation and its Members around the world and it was a pleasure to see the IALA family spirit in action.
In 2018 the General Assembly of IALA established World Marine Aids to Navigation Day to be commemorated on 1 July each year, the date of the creation of IALA in 1957. This year we retained the same well-remembered theme from the earlier commemorations: Marine Aids to Navigation – Successful Voyages, Sustainable Planet.
The principal objective of this day is to promote greater awareness of IALA and its work by bringing to the attention of the wider public the role of marine aids to navigation and the significance of IALA’s technical work in enhancing the safety of navigation and protection of the environment worldwide.
In 2019 the inaugural World Marine Aids to Navigation Day was hosted by the Spanish Member, Puertos del Estado, in Mallorca.
Last year, 2020, the Bulgarian Port Infrastructure Corporation was the host to celebrate the event in Burgas but due to Covid-19, it was postponed to this year. Alas, the pandemic-driven situation has prevailed again.
So IALA celebrated the Day on 1 July by way of a Webinar and retaining the same theme: Marine Aids to Navigation – Successful Voyages, Sustainable Planet.
One example of the way in which the Day was celebrated was the event at the Sheraton Hotel, Incheon, Republic of Korea, with a lighthouse video competition awards and speeches by the Minister, the City’s Mayor and HE Kitack Lim, Secretary General of IMO. More information on this event here.
Francis Zachariae in his address paid tribute to the efforts of the Members of IALA during the difficult times encountered under Covid-19. At this time they continued providing aids to navigation so essential for the safety of shipping and the continuous flow of food, fuel and medical supplies, along with the many other commodities upon which we all depend daily.
Staff of our members were (and still are) required to attend their normal workplace due to the essential nature of their duties when responding to failures and performing vital maintenance to keep their service operational.
Member organisations around the world were encouraged to hold parallel events and to post photographs of marine aids to navigation on their social media sites with others published on a dedicated space on the IALA website. Here examples can be seen at: https://www.iala.int/news-events/news/
In this way marine aids to navigation have been made more visible and known to the public which is, of course, the purpose of World Marine Aids to Navigation Day and it also benefits the maritime community.
The Secretary-General has conveyed his thanks to all concerned for their kind collaboration and valuable support with the Day.
A webinar enabled representatives from Chile, Somalia, Scotland, China, Brazil, Australia, Japan, and Bulgaria with the user, the Nautical Institute, to speak of their activities and the meaning of IALA. This may be seen on the You Tube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucHVohQnvYw
View the shared photos from members here
