#WorldMaritimeDay - The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) World Maritime Day Forum takes place today and the theme for 2016 is "Shipping: Indispensable to the World".

The IMO forum will also today include a debate ‘Global Shipping’s Future Challenges’ at 15.15hrs  held in the IMO headquarters, London.

You are invited to a live streaming of the debate, so click HERE and submit to the remote participation in order to view the event. To also take part via Twitter use the following handle and hashtag: @IMOHQ #WorldMaritimeDay

Julian Bray is the moderator and panellists are: Karin Orsel, Alistair Lindsay, Rear Admiral Chris Parry CBE and Hassiba Benamara

The theme of the debate was chosen to focus on the critical link between shipping and global society and to raise awareness of the relevance of the role of IMO as the global regulatory body for international shipping. The importance of shipping to support and sustain today's global society gives IMO's work a significance that reaches far beyond the industry itself.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), around 80 per cent of global trade by volume and over 70 per cent of global trade by value are carried by sea and are handled by ports worldwide. These shares are even higher in the case of most developing countries. Without shipping the import and export of goods on the scale necessary to sustain the modern world would not be possible.

Seaborne trade continues to expand, bringing benefits for consumers across the world through competitive freight costs.

There are more than 50,000 merchant ships trading internationally, transporting every kind of cargo. The world fleet is registered in over 150 nations and manned by more than a million seafarers of virtually every nationality.

Over the past 50 years and more, IMO has developed and adopted a comprehensive framework of global regulations covering maritime safety, environmental protection, legal matters and other areas. Under this regulatory framework, shipping has become progressively safer, more efficient and more environment-friendly.