On 26^th September, 2023, Department of Law, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) successfully organized a seminar on the topic of ‘Maritime Laws in the perspective of Emerging Bangladesh.’ The event was graced by respected Dean, Faculty of Security and Strategic Studies (FSSS), Brigadier General Muhammad Ali Talukder, ndc, afwc, psc, MPhil. Deans of other faculties, Chairman, faculty members of the Department of Law were also present in the seminar.

The keynote speaker of the seminar was Rear Admiral (Retd.) Md. Khurshed Alam, Secretary (Maritime Affairs Unit), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Alam performed the duties regarding the “Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal” in the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Germany and the “Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration between Bangladesh and India” in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague respectively. He was also the head of the Bangladesh Continental Shelf technical team entrusted with the preparation, documentation, carrying out seismic survey of the Bay of Bengal and submission of Bangladesh’s claim on extended continental shelf to the 21 member UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

The Seminar started at 12.00 pm at the Bijoy Auditorium, BUP.

In his speech, the keynote speaker shed light on different international conventions and domestic laws related to a myriad of maritime issues, such as the International Convention on Oil Pollution, The Bill of Lading Act, London Convention, UNCLOS 1982. He mentioned in his speech that seafarers are the modern day slaves, and their workplace is a slave ship. Important terms like ‘Economism’, ‘bionomy’ ‘capacity and capability’ were explained throughout his speech. His speech was accompanied by a power point presentation containing valuable information. He concluded his speech with the famous African proverb, “Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

After the enlightening speech of the keynote speaker the floor was open for the audiences to bring in questions. The question-and-answer session, with the active participation of the audience present, made the seminar more interactive. The participants asked questions on various important issues like the role of the Saint Martin Island in delimiting the EEZ of Bangladesh, the adverse impact of the ship breaking industry on marine environment, the sufferings of the people of coastal districts, attracting foreign investors in marine sector and many more.

Followed by the Question-and-Answer session respected Dean of the Faculty of Security and Strategic Studies conveyed his vote of thanks. The vote of thanks was followed by crest handover and photo session.