ROCKPORT – Maine Maritime Academy will be host to the 3rd General Assembly of the International Association of Maritime Universities Sept. 23-26 at the Samoset Resort.

The conference will serve as an academic forum for “Enhancing Global Maritime Excellence,” offering extensive exchange of theory and practice pertaining to professional maritime training and education. A concurrent student program will be held at MMA.

Academic, administrative and student delegates from the 34 IAMU member institutions located throughout the world will present more than 40 academic papers on maritime training and education at the symposium.

IAMU was sponsored by the Nippon Foundation of Tokyo, Japan, and was established as a nonprofit organization in 1999 by seven maritime universities representing regions of the world.

The organization aims to establish a worldwide network among maritime universities of excellence and to enhance the safety of international ocean traffic by promoting a scientific and academic approach to maritime education and training.