Dear Colleagues,
It is a great honour and privilege for me to invite you for participation in the
8th Annual General Assembly (AGA 8) of the International Association of Maritime
Universities (IAMU), which will take place
in Ukraine at Odesa National Maritime Academy (ONMA) from
September 17th – 19th, 2007, and supported by The Nippon Foundation.
The theme of the AGA 8 will be "World Maritime
Excellence".
IAMU has an unique possibility to elaborate its own MET standards, corresponding
to modern requirements of shipping industry and their implementation in world
shipping. It is significant that the Assembly is being held on the threshold of
the final decision of IMO to award the Association with the status of Non-governmental
organization and due to open IMO discussion on review of the STCW Convention and
Code.
Within the AGA 8 limits the 2nd Presidents’/Rectors’ Forum will be held. Thus,
the initiative of Dalian Maritime University will be continued and become a good
tradition. We are going to held "The Round Table" of the representatives
of the ministries, responsible for maritime education in IAMU-member countries,
during the above-mentioned Forum.
We expect that the IAMUS program will be also interesting. The main place for
holding the IAMUS program will be training sailing vessel “Druzhba”. The ONMA
simulators: "Full Mission Bridge", "Full Mission Engine Room",
and Multimedia English Lab will be provided for conducting this program.
Save the dates and make your plans now to attend. We look forward to seeing
you in September 2007 in Odesa, Ukraine. We hope that the 8th Annual General Assembly
of the International Association of Maritime Universities will become an important
milestone in the development of maritime education in the world.
Mykhaylo V. Miyusov
ONMA Rector
IAMU Senior Vice-Chair
Chair of LEC IAMU AGA8
General Information
City, capital of Odesa region, in Ukraine, a port on Odesa Bay of the Black
Sea. Territory 160 square km. Population 1,122,000 (1995). The third largest Ukrainian
city after Kiev and Kharkov, a major industrial, cultural, scientific, and resort
centre in the Northern Black Sea region.
Climate
Moderately continental and comparatively dry. There are more than 290 sunny
days in the year.
Winter is short and mild with an average temperature of around freezing point.
Falling snow and temperatures below minus 10 Celsius are rare.
Summer is long and hot with an average temperature of 25 Celsius. Temperatures
above 35 Celsius are quite often.
History
By European standards, Odesa is a young city. It was founded in 1794 by Catherine
the Great, when the Russian Queen decided her empire could use a port on the Black
Sea. A colony from ancient Greece may have once occupied the site of the city,
and Crimean Tatars traded there in the 14th century.
Odesa has quickly developed into a center of international trade, industry,
and science. By its hundredth anniversary (1894), Odesa occupied the 4th place
in the Russian Empire in size and economic power – after St. Petersburg,
Moscow and Warsaw. The city suffered heavy damage during World War II, and many
residents were killed by the occupying German and Romanian armies. The extraction
of shell-limestone to construct those buildings resulted in Odesa's labyrinthine
underground, from which partisans operated during World War II.
Nowadays, Odesa is home to 1.1 million people, and growing. Its development
as a seacoast resort community has contributed to a population that has almost
tripled over the last hundred years. A mild climate, plenty of beaches, and the
Black Sea attract thousands of tourists to Odesa throughout the year, earning
it the title of "Southern Palmira".
Economics
Odesa is the largest seaport of Ukraine as well as an important rail junction
and highway hub. Odesa is a major industrial center. Grain, sugar, machinery,
coal, petroleum products, cement, metals, jute, and timber are the chief items
of trade at the port of Odesa, which is the leading Ukrainian Black Sea port.
The city's industries include shipbuilding, oil refining, machine building, metalworking,
food processing, and the manufacture of chemicals, machine tools, clothing, and
products made of wood, jute, and silk. The relatively mild climate of Odesa draws
visitors to the city’s many resorts. Large health resorts are located nearby.
Culture
Odesans are proud of their architectural and cultural heritage. Odesa has
a university (est. 1865), an opera and ballet theatre (1809), a historical museum
(1825), a municipal library (1830), an astronomical observatory (1871), an opera
house (1883–87), and a picture gallery (1898), other museums and theatres.
Famous men such as Mechnikov
(medicine), Bunin
(writer), and Pushkin
(poet) made their home here at one time or another. Local buildings were done
up in a variety of styles ranging from Renaissance to Art Nouveau.
Tourist Guide
Odesa possesses plenty of attractions – sites to see, fine arts, museums,
stores, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, casinos, etc. Here you can find information
about them, together with other useful information about city particularities,
transportation, driving, communications, safety and emergency numbers.
Accommodation
Odesa has a variety of different hotels which range between one and four stars.
Rate per night from 30 till 230 USD. Here you can view information about Odesa
hotels. Information about accommodation in Odesa.
Transportation
Odesa has regular air connections with Vienna (Austrian
Airlines and Air Ukraine International, daily), Warsaw (LOT),
Istanbul (Turkish Airlines), Budapest (Malev
Airlines), Athens, Tel Aviv (ElAl), Moscow, Kiev, Kishineu, Yerevan, Tiflis as
well as with some other cities of Europe and Asia.
Trains connect Odesa with Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow,
Saint–Petersburg, major cities of Ukraine and many other cities of the former
Soviet Union.
Buses go between Odesa and all European countries as well as major cities
in Ukraine.
There is regular passenger ship transportation between Odesa and Istanbul,
Haifa and Varna.
Money
Only credit cards that Odesa and other Ukrainian banks operate with are Visa,
MasterCard and EuroCard. There are no problems with cash exchange in Odesa. In
addition, there are several ATMs in Odesa.
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