Korea Maritime & Ocean University Strengthens Its Collaboration with Dalian Maritime University in China

Korea Maritime & Ocean University (KMOU; President Deog-hee Doh) has extended its international exchange agreement with Dalian Maritime University (DLMU) to reinforce its collaboration with China on sustainable mutual development in marine and maritime fields.

KMOU participated in the International Conference on Maritime Education, organized by DLMU between September 23 and September 25, 2023, to enhance its interactions with major marine and maritime universities worldwide and renew its international exchange agreement with DLMU.

This academic conference was attended by 33 maritime education experts from 16 countries, including Ki-tack Lim, the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization, and Maximo Mejia, the President of the World Maritime University.

During this conference, they discussed the future of global maritime education in the current scenario, in which the maritime industry navigates through a digital transformation and the development of advanced technology.

Jin-chul Choi, the Dean of KMOU’s Office of International Affairs, joined as a speaker and presented on the topic of Paradigm Shift: Maritime Education Integrated with Humanities. Besides eco-friendliness and digitalization, he emphasized the significance of a shift toward human-centric maritime education, focusing on changes in the organizational culture in ships driven by the happiness of various crew members in their daily work and lives.

After the conference, KMOU and DLMU held a ceremony to renew their international academic exchange agreement. During the ceremony, both universities updated the agreement to strengthen their collaboration and discussed matters such as the docking of training ships and student exchange.

DLMU is a prestigious educational institution operated under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China. In 2015, it was designated as a double first-class university, which is a first-class university that offers a first-class discipline, and a national key university by the Chinese government. It is also China’s first higher education institution specializing in maritime education.

Choi stated, “This academic conference allowed us to recognize the Chinese government’s proactive investment and support in the marine field as well as its strong commitment to talent development. Since DLMU is a distinguished institution specializing in maritime education, we expect that our university will advance further with the collaboration and competition with DLMU. Moreover, we expect that activities, such as visits to training ships and the exchange of researchers, will transform both universities into central hubs for maritime education, leading the global marine sector not only in Northeast Asia but also worldwide and nurturing global maritime talent.”