Category Archives for "Speaker"

Hossein Gholizadeh

President
Caspian Innovation Pioneers

Hossein A Gholizadeh, born on 15 September 1953, began his career at the Ports and Maritime Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (PMO) in 1983 as the Director of Noshahr Port in the north of Iran, South Caspian Sea. In October 1990, he was awarded a scholarship to study General Maritime Administration at the World Maritime University (WMU). Hossein graduated in December 1993. 

The result of his research for his dissertation, to fulfil his master’s degree, was Multilateral Agreement on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea Area, proposing a draft convention and a draft Protocol on combating oil pollution (thanks to the late Prof. Edgard Gold, the co-assessor).

The ” Tehran Convention,” where it was adopted in 2003, came into force in 2006 when ratified by the coastal states.

Upon returning from Sweden, Hossein was appointed to the largest port in Iran, Port Bandarabbas, where he prepared an emergency action plan and successfully brought waiting times to zero within a few months.

In 2003, Hossein became the PMO’s first permanent representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), where he worked hard to encourage the participation of Iranian expertise in IMO meetings. 

After leaving IMO, Hossein joined IRISL UK as a Director and Board member in late 2006. He also worked as the NPCO on CaspEco, JEF project for the environment of the Caspian Sea, in cooperation with the Secretariat of Tehran Convention (UNEP). 

Presently, Hossein is the proprietor of Caspian Innovation Pioneers, a consulting firm. 

Mohamed Calico Lavalie

CEO, Christopolis Maritime Solutions Liberia Limited

As CEO of Christopolis Maritime Solutions Liberia Limited, Lavalie leads a team of young Liberians as service quality proponents for freight forwarding. Together, they developed practical, innovative, and cost-effective solutions for shippers.

He is a co-founder of the Liberia Chamber of Shipping (LCS), a legacy member of the West African Chamber of Shipping (WACS), a regional body that seeks to protect the interest of shippers and multimodal transporters.

He is the Outgoing President and a Founding Member of the World Maritime University Alumni Association Liberia (WMUAAL).

He served as Director Policy, Planning and Investment at the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) of Liberia 2018-2020.

Port Terminal Strategist APM Terminals Liberia 2013-2017. Chief of Staff, Office of the Managing Director, National Port Authority of Liberia, 2009-2012. 

Currently, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Ricks Institute and President of the Ricks Institute Alumni Association Liberia (RIAAL).

Board Secretary, Future Farmers of Liberia Empowerment for Women (FFLEW). A poverty reduction agribusiness and micro lending focus on women in Bong and Lofa Counties,  Liberia. Project support from Partners Worldwide and the Peace Church.

Lavalie holds BSc. Degree in General Agriculture (2010) University of Liberia, MSc. Degree in Maritime Affairs with emphasis is Port and Shipping Management (2012) World Maritime University, Certificate in Port Operations and Terminal Management (2014).  IBC Academy, London United Kingdom. 

He is a Prospective Masson Fellow and (2024) MPA Candidate of the Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Boston USA.

Usman Shuaibu

Assistant Chief & Personal Assistant to Director, Maritime Environment Management Department of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). 

Mr Shuaibu is a Maritime Policy Expert with more than a decade’s experience in Maritime Administration, Regional Trade and Transport & Logistics, and supply chain. He began his career in 2011 as Senior Shipping Development to Assistant Chief, Reform Coordination & Strategy. 

He obtained a Master of Science in Maritime Affairs, specialization in Shipping Management and Logistics from World Maritime University, Sweden, a Master of Business Administration, International Business from Southern Cross University, Australia, International Advanced Diploma in Transport & Logistics from the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, UK and a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education History from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. 

Sajid Hussain

Commandant
Bangladesh Marine Academy

Dr. Sajid Hussain – President of the Friends of WMU Bangladesh – is serving Bangladesh Marine Academy as its Commandant since 2009. He has skills of 13 years’ seafaring up to Chief Engineer and then continued 30 years’ maritime educational management. 

He is a Governor at WMU Board of Governors and IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador; a Trustee, Council Member and Chartered Marine Engineer of IMarEST; a Chartered Engineer of UK Engineering Council and a Maritime Expert of IMO & GlobalMET Australia.

He has a CoC Class ONE Marine Engineer from MCA-UK, MSc in MSA Marine Engineering from WMU in 1998; author of 25 books, 35 Research papers and over 250 features. During his study in WMU in 1997-98, he was a Class Representative and the President of Asia & Pacific Students Forum.
Awards include ‘IMarEST Recognised Speaker’ in 2020, IMarEST Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution in Marine Education 2019’, a DSc in Maritime Education (Honoris Causa) in 2018, IMarEST President’s Commendation 2012 and IMarEST Award for his paper ‘Vision of e-Learning & its application into MET’ in 2007.

He had initiated and achieved ‘WMU Partnering Status’ for Bangladesh Marine Academy in 2019; led establishing ‘BSMR Maritime University, Bangladesh’ in 2013 based on his WMU Dissertation ‘A proposal for establishment of a Maritime University in Bangladesh – 1998’.

Deniece M. Aiken

Attorney-at-Law
WMU PhD Candidate

Deniece M. Aiken is an Attorney-at-Law, who holds a B.Sc. in International Relations and Political Science from the University of the West Indies, a Bachelor of Laws degree with honours from the University of London, and a Master of Science degree in Maritime Affairs, specializing in Maritime Law & Policy from the World Maritime University (WMU) in Sweden, which she completed with Distinction and received the Pierre Leonard Award for the Best Female Student. 

Deniece is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Maritime Affairs with emphasis in Maritime Governance at the World Maritime University in Sweden. She is the Founding President of the WMU Women’s Association and a founding member of the Women in Maritime Association, Caribbean.  She was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Maritime Institute and served as a Director for four (4) years, and also served as Director on the boards of the American Caribbean Maritime Foundation, the Jamaica Rowing Federation, the WMU Women’s Association Secretariat, and Seavie Caribbean Limited. She is an International Ambassador for the University of London International Programmes and a member of the International Maritime Lecturer’s Association and the Jamaica Bar Association. Deniece recently served as Vice President, Legal & International Affairs for the maritime university in Jamaica, and Ocean Law Fellow at the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST).  Deniece is a Law Columnist for Portside Caribbean, a WMU-Koji Sekimizu Doctoral Fellow and is currently a Research Assistant and a member of the Doctoral Studies Committee at the World Maritime University. 

Manuel Fuenzalida

Deputy at Marine Environmental Protection, Climate Change, and Pollution Response Department DIRECTEMAR – Chilean Maritime Authority.

Manuel Fuenzalida has over 20 years of experience serving as a Chilean Navy/Coast Guard officer, with a Maritime Administration Engineer degree from the Chilean Naval Politechnical Academy (APOLINAV) and a Master of Science in Maritime Affairs (MSc) from the World Maritime Academy (WMU), specialized in Maritime Safety and Environmental Administration. Currently, he holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander, carrying a  broad professional experience both onshore and at sea in fields such as  Maritime Safety, Environmental Administration, Environmental Protection, Ports Safety, Human Resources, Casualty Investigation, SAR, IUU Fishing Operations, Policy development/Implementation, Marine Protected Areas, and International Maritime affairs. Throughout his professional career, he obtained Technical International certifications such as Training Cruise on Board USTS “Golden Bear” at California Maritime Academy (USA), Naval Cooperation and Guidance for shipping (Level I and II)  with The Royal Navy (UK), Economic Exclusive Zone Protection Course with the Royal Navy (UK), Oil Spill Response (UK), International Maritime Interdiction Operations Course with the Colombian Navy (Colombia), International Maritime Officers Course with the United States Coast Guard  (USA), and Incident Command Systems Course-ICS 300  with Virginia Department of Emergency Management (USA). As WMU Student, he saw the need for regional partnerships to implement IMO regulations better. Therefore, he came up with the idea to create a Latin American Alumni Association (LATAMA), jointly developed by students from the region and WMU staff, and officially launched in a ceremony at WMU in October 2022. After graduation, he assumed a new position as the deputy at the Marine Environmental Protection, Climate Change, and Pollution Response department at DIRECTEMAR (Chilean Maritime Authority). Most recently, he co-founded WMU Chilean Alumni Association, re-uniting Alumni from 1985 (first-ever graduates from WMU) until 2022.

Minna Kivimäki

Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Transport and Communications
Finland

Permanent Secretary Minna Kivimäki has worked at the Ministry of Transport and Communications since 1997 and held several positions, including Director of Unit and Director General at the Transport Policy Department. Before moving to Brussels in 2016, she worked as Director General of the Services Department. In Brussels, Kivimäki worked as Deputy Permanent Representative and Coreper I representative at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU.

Kivimäki has a Master of Laws Degree from the University of Helsinki with a specialization in International Law. She has worked for several years on maritime policy and strategies, international maritime conventions, international maritime law and the Law of the Sea. Kivimäki has extensive experience in transport policy in all transport modes including shipping, ports, safety and security, environmental issues, logistics, passenger transport, transport infrastructure and labour questions in the transport sector. Her responsibilities have also covered the digital transformation of society, digital connectivity, data economy, as well as cyber and information security.

Moin Ahmed

Special Envoy to the Minister of Shipping
Government of Bangladesh Marine Policy Expert

Captain Moin Ahmed is the Special Envoy to the Minister of Shipping, Government of Bangladesh Marine Policy Expert. Until 14 April 2023 he served as the Director General of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO). He holds a Certificate of Competency as Master Mariner and an MSc degree in Shipping Management (Technical) form the World Maritime University. In his maritime professional career of about four decades, he spent 10 years at sea and rest of the years in shore establishments with senior appointments in technical, operational, commercial, training of maritime personnel and on maritime safety administration. Under the UN system (IMO Secretariat) he served as a senior international civil servant at the highest professional category on Technical Cooperation, Maritime Safety and Member State Audit. Prior to joining the IMO Secretariat, he represented Bangladesh to IMO and several other international organizations, and has contributed to the promotion of maritime safety, security and protection of the marine environment, in particular for the environmental sustainability in ship recycling. He is known as an organizational leader for setting standards of excellence. He demonstrated his leadership role as the Chairman of the IMO Technical Co-operation Committee, IMSO Assembly, several IMO/international expert groups, President of the World Maritime University (WMU) Student Council and also as a Governor of World Maritime University Board. He had been a visiting faculty member of the IMO International Maritime Academy, the World Maritime University and IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI). 

Director General & CEO (ret.)International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO)

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