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.