The World Maritime Day reminds the importance of the work of the Maritime Captaincies

The slogan of the World Maritime Day, promoted by the International Maritime Organization (OMI), is “Our ocean, our obligation, our opportunity”.

The Directorate General of the Merchant Marine, of the Transports and Sustainable Mobility Ministry, commemorates the World Maritime Day, which is celebrated today, on the 25th, reminding the importance of the work carried out by the Maritime Captaincies for the control and inspection of vessels and ships with the aim to avoid pollution and working on marine environment protection.

The celebration of the World Maritime Day is an initiative of the International Maritime Organization, that is celebrated every year on the last Thursday of September and has a main objective, in this occasion, highlighting the role carried out by maritime transport regarding oceans’ protection, taking into account that it is a dominating sector in the oceanic area since over the 80% of the world’s commerce is transported by sea.

In this sense, the Directorate General of the Merchant Marine reminds that ‘2025-2050 Spain’s Maritime Strategy’, recently approved, assumes amongst its goals the boosting of the fleet’s sustainability, the maritime transport’s decarbonization and the maritime ecosystems’ preservation, which are basic for guaranteeing the oceans’ health, the marine biodiversity and the water’s quality.

In addition, the Maritime Captaincies’ dedication is highlighted. In 2024, they carried out over 3,5000 inspections  to merchants vessels and other ships in which they are controlled, amongst others, the content of sulphur in the carburant, the delivery of the waste in port or the infringement of the norms related to vessels’ emissions.

The DGMM also has competences regarding the maritime traffic control, through the Maritime Rescue control centres, to prevent possible discharges proceeding from vessels that sail on Spanish territorial waters and direct the emergencies related with pollution episodes. 

According to the OMI, this year’s chosen slogan to commemorate the World Maritime Day shows a tight link with the Sustainable Development Objectives and is useful for placing value on OMI’s Strategy to reduce greenhouse effect gases in vessels. The strategy stablished a route to achieve zero net emissions in the maritime transport before 2050, in consonant with the objectives planned by the European Union.

On a European level, the celebration of this day coincides with the provisional agreement of a regulation to prevent the loss of plastic grain (commonly known as pellets) in the environment, in all the supply chain, in land as well as in sea, which has the consensus of the Council and the European Parliament.