The 18th Annual General Assembly of the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) was held at the premises of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (Republic of Bulgaria) in Varna from October 11 till 13, 2017. M.V. Miyusov, the Rector of NU «OMA», M.V. Chesnokova, Head of International Department, D.S. Zhukov, a senior lecturer of the Ship Control Department, K.V. Dudnichenko, the 3^rd year cadet of Maritime Law and Management Faculty, M.S. Olefir, the 2^nd year cadet of Marine Engineering Faculty and A.C. Balakina the 3^rd year cadet of Navigation Faculty represented National University “Odessa Maritime Academy” at the General Assembly.

Before the work of the General Assembly, the meetings of working groups and the International Executive Committee of IAMU were held from October 8 till 10, 2017. D.S. Zhukov, a senior lecturer of the Ship Control Department was a member of the IAMU working group on problematic issues related to the cadet’s on-board training. The activities of the working group resulted in the papers included in the meetings‘ agenda of the Subcommittee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Human Factors, Training and Watchkeeping (HTW) as well as continued participation in HTW meetings. Dr. Takeshi Nakazawa, Executive Director of IAMU and Milhar Fuazudeen, Head of the IMO Department for Human Factors, Training and Watchkeeping (HTW Division) participated in the meeting of the working group on October 8, 2017. The report of the working group was presented at the meeting of the International Executive Committee on October 10, 2017.

The opening ceremony of the 18th Annual General Assembly was opened by Boyan Mednikarov, Chief of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, Rear Admiral, Takehiro Umemura, the representative of the Nippon Foundation as well as Neil Bose, Chairman of IAMU. After the opening ceremony, Milhar Fuazudeen, the representative of the International Maritime Organization and David Schneider, the President of the Marine Institute of Great Britain presented the main reports.

M.V. Miyusov, the Rector of NU «OMA» participated in the Presidential Forum that was continued by the event’s work. The forum discussed the issues related to the maritime education development and cooperation between maritime training institutions.

The 18th Annual General Assembly brought together 212 representatives from 48 higher maritime educational institutions from 33 countries of the world. The main theme of the Assembly was dedicated to «Global perspectives in MET: Towards Sustainable, Green and integrated Maritime Transport».

An excursion around the premises of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy was held on the last day of the meeting. The participants had the possibility to get acquainted with the main directions of the educational and scientific activity of the Academy, its history and also visit and examine the training and laboratory as also simulation base, where the simulators to train navigators and marine engineers were presented.

Besides, the presentations of foreign cadets’ works were made on various topics regarding the seafaring. In the competition, the first three places were occupied by Filipinos, Georgians and Americans.

All the participants of the Annual General Assembly felt constant attention and support from the staff of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy.