World Ocean Council Welcomes Two New Leadership Organizations

The WOC is honored to announce its most recent new members - Tian Sian Shipping Ltd of Singapore, a pioneer in ocean clean-up, and the James Michel Foundation, established by the Former President of the Seychelles.

Former President James A. Michel of the Republic of Seychelles stated: “I agree wholeheartedly with the WOC’s mission to foster Ocean Sustainable Development. Joining the WOC is the best and most efficient way to move this vision and mission forward to action through collaboration. I am honoured to be a key speaker of the WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit in Hong Kong in November 2018, and I am very much looking forward to making my contribution to its success.”

Mark Ko, Tian Sian Shipping Executive Director, said: “We have been cleaning up rivers, ports and the waters around Singapore for over 20 years and we have seen first-hand, the side effects of unfettered development and what it can do to the natural environment. We have also seen how quickly nature can bounce back once we give it a hand in recovering. The future of our oceans depends on our behaviour moving forward and we are thrilled to be joining an organisation whose mission is to ensure we treat our oceans with respect. We have always been committed to sustainable ocean development and joining the WOC reaffirms our commitment to action.”

WOC CEO, Paul Holthus, added: “It is with great pleasure that I welcome both organizations into the WOC community. We are honoured to work directly with Former President James Michel on Ocean Sustainable Development in collaboration with his Foundation. We also look forward to building the interaction with Tian Sian in their leadership efforts, such a marine debris and plastics collection from nearshore marine waters. We encourage other companies and organizations who wish to engage in implementing ‘Corporate Ocean Responsibility’ leadership with like-minded peers to get involved in the WOC’s unique global ocean business leadership alliance”.