Students from 35 different countries graduated as international maritime law professionals following their end of studies from the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI).
The 47 graduates, three of whom are Maltese, will be joining a body of international maritime law professionals.
They marked their graduation – IMLI’s 30th - at a ceremony held at the Malta Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa, which Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela attended.
Minister Abela had already met with the IMLI graduates in the days prior to their graduation, when he hosted them at Palazzo Parisio in Valletta for a dialogue on foreign affairs issues.
During that dialogue, the minister expressed pride at Malta’s role in shaping the law of the sea as we know it today. This, he said, was mainly thanks to the success of the Malta-based IMO International Maritime Law Institute, which was now recognised as a global leader in international maritime law education.
Minister Abela highlighted the key role foreign ministers played in ensuring countries worked together towards global ocean governance to confront challenges affecting oceans today, including erosion of safety at sea and destruction of marine environment.
He reiterated the government’s full support of IMLI and congratulated graduates for their achievement.
IMLI is based at the University of Malta campus in Msida and offers different programmes of study up to up to Doctorate level in the law of the sea, environment law and shipping law.