WORLD MARINE AIDS TO NAVIGATION DAY GETS OFF TO A FLYING START

摘要

The celebration of the first World Marine Aids to Navigation (WAtoN) Day on 1st July of this year "exceeded all expectations." This was the unequivocal conclusion of Secretary-General Francis Zachariae, who praised the collaboration and enthusiastic support from across the membership. Many parallel events took place around the world and hundreds of personal messages of support were posted via IALA Linkedln from as far afield as Fiji and Vanuatu, South Africa and Vietnam. Addressing the main event held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain under the auspices of Puertos del Estado and with the organizational support of the Balearic Port Authority, Mr Zachariae recalled that the celebration had been the bold initiative of our former President (2014-2018), Mr Juan Francisco Rebollo, Head of the Spanish Marine Aids to Navigation Service at Puertos del Estado. His proposal to the Council, in December 2017, to establish a designated day on an annual basis to make IALA 's technical achievement visible to the general public and focus attention on the importance of international cooperation had led the General Assembly, at its 13th session held in Incheon, Republic of Korea in May 2018, to give its unanimous consent through the adoption of Resolution A 13.04. He truly is "the godfather of WAtoN Day", Mr Zachariae said.