History and Future of the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU)

The International Association of Maritime Universities is an organization that includes among its members most of the world's four-year maritime universities of excellence. The membership has rapidly increased since seven maritime universities representing each region of the world established the Association in 1999. Currently there are 43 member universities representing nearly every part of the world. The goal of IAMU is to make tangible contributions to the international maritime community through the education and training of top notch maritime personnel and by conducting academic research activities in maritime safety.

1. History of the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU)

The International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU hereafter) was established with seven maritime universities, including six universities representing each region of the world-Asia, North/South America, Oceania, Africa, Western Europe, the Mediterranean/Central and Eastern Europe-and the World Maritime University (WMU) located in Malmo, Sweden, with the support of The Nippon Foundation in November 1999. At that time, there was not a single global organization of 4-year institutions offering maritime education and training for officers' certificate of competence, and academic degrees for a maritime personnel .
These universities shared the following common awareness: the importance of an appropriate response, as institutions for higher education, to the rapid development of globalization in the international maritime community; the importance of safety in management of marine traffic and the conservation of marine environments; and the importance of the maintenance and development of maritime technology, and skill levels for conducting investigations and research, as well as the handing on, on a global scale, of these knowledge, experience and skill levels.
The seven maritime universities (Representative Universities) that were involved in the establishment of IAMU set the following four items as their goals for activities:
(1) Development of a comprehensive maritime educational system desirable for the next generation, (2) establishment of international maritime safety management, (3) development of integral curricula at the faculty level, and (4) development of an international unified system for granting seafarers' competency certificates.
The International Executive Committee, which consists of 16 members, includes the seven Representative Universities, eight maritime universities nominated from each region, and The Nippon Foundation, initiated various activities and has endeavored to recruit new members. IAMU has grown to become a large organization of 43 universities, accounting for more than 90% of all 4-year maritime universities in the world, and The Nippon Foundation as a Special Member (refer to page 8, for a list of IAMU member institutions).

2. IAMU's activities

IAMU has been working on the realization of its goals through its worldwide network of member universities. The followings are its four main activities:
Annual General Assembly: Attendance by all member universities; the Annual General Assembly is held to discuss the management of IAMU and research papers are presented by member faculties.
Working Groups: Various investigation and research activities related to the realization of IAMU's goals are being conducted on a routine basis. This year, it was decided to start establishing "an annual unified theme" that encompasses aspects from each of IAMU's goals-"maritime education and training for the next generation," "maritime safety management," "unified curricula," and "unified certificates for seafarers"-in order for member universities to engage jointly in investigation and research activities. This year's theme is "liquefied natural gas (LNG)". This decision was based on the fact that the world trade of LNG is rapidly expanding, that global LNG fleet are correspondingly increasing at an unprecedented scale, and that the new LNG carriers are equipped with most advanced and sophisticated high-technological systems in all respects.
Members' proposal system: Excellent proposals for investigation and research activities submitted by the faculties of all member universities are selected and supported in line with IAMU's goals. This year, nine proposals for investigation and research were carefully selected from 50 proposals. The final report will be presented to next year's Annual General Assembly.
Editorial Board: The Editorial Board compiles and publishes two periodicals: "IAMU Journal," which is a collection of academic papers, and "IAMU News," which aims at the mutual exchanges of the members and the provision of public information. The periodicals are distributed widely among member universities as well as concerned parties in the world maritime community, such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
These activities provide a spark for academic exchanges, the formulation and actual trial of common curricula, and the exchange of faculties and students between two or more member universities. These activities are spreading rapidly across national borders, and a wide variety of innovative activities in the areas of maritime education and training, and research activities are in rapid progress through IAMU's large worldwide network.

3. What we have learned through our activities

I would here like to introduce some extremely interesting information that has gained attention through our efforts to establish the International Association of Maritime Universities, an unprecedented organization in the world's maritime field.
1. Types of advanced maritime education: There are "four types" of education among the world's maritime universities, as follows:
[Type 1] British (or British Commonwealth) type: Emphasis is placed on the minimum requirements of the international standards (the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers [STCW]) regarding qualification requirements for seafarers. Instructors hold advanced seafarers' competency certificates, and have broad experience aboard ship.
[Type 2] East European type: Students obtain seafarers' competency certificates and an academic degree (bachelor's degree) after an education period of five to five and a half years. For instructors, those with advanced seafarers' competency certificates and broad experience aboard ship, and academic researchers are assigned appropriately.
[Type 3] Japanese and Asian type: Students obtain qualifications for seafarers' competency certificates and an academic degree (bachelor's degree) after an education period of four to four and a half years. For instructors, those with advanced seafarers' competency certificates as well as academic researchers are assigned appropriately. Emphasis is placed on academic research.
[Type 4] U.S. type: Students study in a military-style boarding school for four years, and can obtain an academic degree and a qualification for seafarers' competency certificates. Most of the instructors hold advanced seafarers' competency certificates and have broad experience aboard ship.

Although the details can be left to another occasion, it is the author's opinion that Types 2 and 3 are in the best balance in focusing to the education of maritime personnel and academic research, while the U.S. Type is most suitable only for the education of maritime personnel.
2. Maritime university-an essentially national existence: All the IAMU member universities are national or public (state) universities, and there are no private universities. The maritime universities are bound by their respective national systems, so it is difficult to respond promptly to the realities of the international maritime community, which has rapidly and constantly become globalized. This makes the existence of IAMU important. This is because IAMU can add an additional dimension to the "two-dimensional world" where the member universities find themselves on day to day basis , and can provide a fresh space where national restrictions can be transcended.
3. Increasing gap between maritime universities and the actual shipping industry: Due to the progress of globalization, the shipping industry has been accepting fewer graduates from maritime universities. As a result, it seems that the gap between maritime universities and the shipping industry has increased.
4. Locations of member universities: Without exception, the member universities are located in those countries that have a systematic base for maintaining higher maritime education institutions through national finances. In other words, maritime universities were established in those countries which had their own shipping industry to meet their nation's physical ocean transporation needs for import and/or export. This fact should prove valuable when thinking about the "passing on of maritime technology."
5. The U.S. and China are maintaining traditional maritime education: The U.S. and China are major countries where costly maritime education and training are maintained by attracting enough young people and through proper discipline. In both countries, one can say that their fleets are largely manned by "traditional, disciplined seafarers" from their own countries (by comparison, the Japanese merchant marine depends on foreign seafarers to cover more than 90% of its need for seafarers.)
6. Common tests among the member universities: There has been serious discussion as to whether IAMU can provide unified tests in order for member universities to evaluate their students' performance; however, this has proven to be a very challenging task for IAMU, as well as for the entire world maritime community.

4. IAMU's future prospects

As we have seen so far, IAMU is a truly timely project that provides a space for international activities for the member maritime universities, which are bound systematically by the frameworks of their respective countries, and cannot respond to globalization in the best suitable manner. The globalization of the world maritime community continues to progress, but the number of able maritime officers in the respective countries where the member universities are located has now started to decrease rapidly. IAMU is now facing a truly global challenge that require the maximum utilization of the IAMU network, which is now firmly established to cover all corners of the world, and the realization of a system for supplying the best personnel to the world maritime community