Monthly Archives: September 2022

Nancy Karigithu

Principal Secretary
State Department for Shipping and Maritime

Mrs. Nancy Karigithu, CBS is the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Shipping and Maritime, the State Department charged with responsibility for promotion of the Maritime and Shipping Industry in Kenya. She holds a bachelor’s degree in law and a Master’s degree in International Maritime law from the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, Malta. 

Prior to joining the State Department, Mrs. Karigithu worked at the Kenya Maritime Authority as Director General for nine (9) years. She has previously served as the Chair of the Technical Cooperation Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for two (2) terms.  Currently she sits on the Boards of Governors of the World Maritime University (WMU) based in Malmo, Sweden and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute based in Malta. 

She was involved jointly with IMO, in the setting up and launch of the Association of Women in the Maritime Sector in Eastern & Southern Africa (WOMESA), where she served two terms as Chairperson and now sits on the governing council.  WOMESA is a first regional body which brings together women professionals in the maritime sector of 26 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Before her present appointment Mrs. Karigithu was working as a legal expert for the European Union (EU) project, Critical Maritime Routes, aimed at enhancing maritime situational awareness in the Indian Ocean. 

Mrs. Karigithu was bestowed with an Honorary Fellowship by the World Maritime University, in recognition of her distinguished service to the international maritime industry, and recently appointed by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya as Ambassador and Special Envoy for Maritime and Blue Economy in Kenya. 

Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs

Vice-President (Academic Affairs) and Professor
World Maritime University

Professor Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs is Vice-President (Academic Affairs) of the World Maritime University (WMU), a university established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.

He oversees and directs the development of the academic agenda and related activities to strengthen the academic profile of the University, and is responsible for the academic developments needed to keep WMU as the global centre of excellence in maritime and ocean education, research and capacity building. In this, he is supported by a wide range of experience gathered over two decades, during which he has taken on increasingly responsible academic and managerial roles at WMU.

Professor Schröder-Hinrichs is an internationally recognized maritime safety expert with special emphasis on the implementation and enforcement of the legal instruments of the IMO, the parent body of WMU. Professor Schröder-Hinrichs has been involved for more than 20 years in numerous capacity-building missions during which he advised IMO member State administrations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Northern America as well as the Black Sea and Caspian Sea areas on issues related to their international obligations under various instruments of the IMO.

In recent years Professor Schröder-Hinrichs developed a strong interest in the implications of increased levels of automation and new technologies in maritime transport. He was the principal investigator for “Transport 2040: Automation, Technology, Employment – The Future of Work”, which was commissioned by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and launched in 2019.