The 20 th Annual General Assembly (AGA) of the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) took place from 30 October to 2 November 2019 in Japan. More than 60 universities participated in the forum, including Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, represented by its Rector, Flotilla Admiral Prof. Boyan Mednikarov, and the Deputy for Education and Science, Navy Captain Prof. Kalin Kalinov.

The opening remarks were given by the President of The Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasagawa. Special greetings were delivered by the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the President of The Nautical Institute, among others.

The forum was dedicated to commemorate the 20 th anniversary of the establishment of the organisation. The theme of the Assembly was Charting the course for the future of maritime universities: Environmental, Technological, Economical, Social, Policy impacts. The discussions were centred on current issues of maritime education related to the digitalisation of maritime industry, the emergence of maritime autonomous surface ships, robotisation, etc.

The Rector of the Naval Academy had a number of meetings with representatives of partner universities. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed with the Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada – a leading institution in the area of education in the use of robotic systems at sea. Some possibilities for the development of education and research projects were discussed, including a joint programme with a dual diploma.

At the accompanying IAMU Conference, Captain Prof. Kalinov presented a paper entitled Current trends in the maritime profession and their implications for the maritime education.