Festive graduation ceremony at World Maritime University in Malmö

Giriraj Singh Rathode, MSc in Port Management, along with his daughter Sanaya Singh – Masters student at University of Gävle – and Bubu Munshi Eklund.

On Sunday 4 December 2011, the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö celebrated its yearly Graduation ceremony for its MSc programmes. Every year a good number of students from South Asia pass through these, and in the class of 2011, consisting of 168 students from 46 countries, four came from India, three from Bangladesh, two from Maldives, and one each from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This year also included a completed PhD in Maritime Administration by Rajendra Prasad (photo to the right), Assistant Professor at WMU since 2008. He successfully defended his PhD thesis, entitled "The Role of Collaborative Learning in Promoting Safety in Shipboard Machinery Spaces" on 23 November 2011.

Gopal Krishna Choudhari with family.

Muhammad Idrees from Pakistan and Jagat Gunsekara Mendis from Sri Lanka.

 SASNET was represented at the festive ceremony by deputy director Lars Eklund and his wife Bubu Munshi Eklund. They had been personally invited to the event by Giriraj Singh Rathode from Mumbai, who passed the WMU Masters programme in Port Management with distinction. Other South Asian students graduating from the same programme were Gopal Krishna Choudhari, coming from the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, Delhi; and Aishath Shimla from the Maldives.

Jagat Mendis Gunasekara from Sri Lanka, and Muhammed Idrees from Pakistan graduated from the MSc programme in Marine Environmental & Ocean Management, whereas Rajesh Mittal from the Indian Coast Guard in Ernakulam, graduated from the MSc programme in Maritime Law and Policy. The same did Md. Tabibur Rahman and Md. Nashir Uddin from Bangladesh. Neesha Khaleel from the Maldives graduated from the MSc programme in Maritime Education & Training. 

The conferring of degrees and awards was carried out by the WMU Chancellor, Mr. E E Mitropoulus. The musical programme was presented by the Band of the Malmö Royal Fire Brigade.

WMU operates under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. The university was established in Malmö, Sweden in 1983. Several of the faculty members are South Asian.
More information about the World Maritime University in Malmö.

World Maritime University Choir, consisting of first year students at WMU, entertained the audience.