From Policy to Practice: What World Maritime Day Means After a Hard Year at Sea
On Thursday, September 24th, the world marked World Maritime Day, and the 2026-2027 biennial theme, “From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence,” could not have been more fitting for the year we have lived through. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez put it simply in his message marking the day: seafarers come first, always. After 2026, that statement carries real weight.
This has been a year of devastating losses on the water. Here at home, a collision near Anse Cochon between the vessel Ocean Angel and the pirogue Mango Tours claimed lives and left a community shaken. It was one of two serious incidents along our coastline within 48 hours. In Guyana, the MV Barima capsized while carrying far more passengers than its manifest listed, in what that country’s government called its worst marine disaster in decades. In Tobago, a seven-year-old girl bathing with her family at Pigeon Point was killed by an out-of-control jet ski, a tragedy that exposed just how little enforcement existed around recreational watercraft in a supposedly protected swimming area. Further afield, thousands of seafarers were left stranded for months in the Strait of Hormuz, some abandoned by shipowners entirely, without food, fuel, or a way to contact their families, caught in a conflict zone through no fault of their own.
These aren’t isolated stories. They are the same lesson, told four different ways. Policy on paper means nothing without enforcement, funding, and the will to act before tragedy forces the issue. That is precisely what the World Maritime Day biennial theme is pushing the global maritime community to confront, and it is a message the Chamber takes seriously here in Saint Lucia. Real protocols, rapid-response capacity, and consistent enforcement, whether for inter-island ferries, jet ski operators, or seafarer welfare, cannot remain theoretical.
As part of this year’s observance, IMO Headquarters in London was illuminated in blue on Thursday night, as a symbol of the global commitment to turning policy into practice, with Secretary-General Dominguez inviting member states and partners around the world to illuminate their own prominent landmarks in the same spirit. Saint Lucia answered that call. The Saint Lucia sign at Pointe Seraphine Cruise Terminal in Castries was lit blue for the occasion, a small but visible gesture that placed our island alongside the rest of the international maritime community in marking the day. It was also a reminder that Saint Lucia’s maritime story is very much part of this global conversation, not separate from it.
But 2026 has also shown what the maritime sector can do when it moves with purpose. Trinidad’s Port of Brighton became the Caribbean’s first EcoPorts-certified Green Port. Regional initiatives like CARIPORTS II and IMO’s Carib-SMART-Law program are working to modernize environmental standards and strengthen legislative capacity across our waters. When Guyana’s disaster struck, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, and the US moved quickly, demonstrating exactly the kind of regional solidarity our sector is capable of when it matters most. Closer to home, Below Saint Lucia’s new sculpture park is laying the groundwork for our first dive sites, work that will protect and grow our marine tourism economy for years to come.
The Chamber’s commitment coming out of this World Maritime Day is straightforward: to keep pushing policy into practice here in Saint Lucia, not just admire it from a distance.