Role and achievements of IMO's Maritime Safety Committee in enhancing the safety and security at sea

Dr Heike Deggim

Director, Maritime Safety Division, IMO

Dr Heike Deggim, a German national, joined the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN specialized agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships, in 1993. She is now the Director of the Maritime Safety Division (MSD) and in that position also acting as the Secretary of the Maritime Safety Committee, IMO's senior technical body for ship safety and security related matters.  She is also the IMO representative at the Arctic Council.

Prior to her career at IMO, Heike worked as a R&D engineer in the German naval shipbuilding industry, followed by several years as Senior Researcher at the Shipbuilding Faculty of Rostock University, resulting in a PhD in fishing technology; and later in various positions in the German Maritime Administration dealing among other things with tonnage measurement of ships and issuing of Tonnage Certificates.

Heike graduated in 1983 in Germany with a Master’s degree in marine engineering from Rostock University. She is a member of The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA).