Víctor Jiménez, from Algeciras and president of the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), considers that the proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar constitutes a top educational asset for those studying nautical studies at the University of Cádiz (UCA), an institution to which he is still linked as a graduate teacher more than two decades after graduating from it. He explains this in an interview granted to the University of Cádiz where he reviews the role of the specialized United Nations agency that he presides over, the situation of maritime education in the province, and Spain's position in a changing international scenario.
Jiménez, who studied Nautical and Maritime Transport at UCA, attributes to that formative stage "practically everything" in the background with which he has developed his professional career. He considers that the degree provided him with a solid foundation and a set of key competencies for his career in the maritime sector, and he declares himself "very satisfied" and "very proud" to be a graduate of the Cádiz Nautical Faculty. In his view, the institution maintains a commendable level in these studies, as evidenced by the number of enrolled students and the associated job opportunities. In his professional environment, he claims to know no graduate who expresses dissatisfaction with the academic choice made.
The president of the IMO Council has been collaborating with the University of Cádiz for more than twenty years. He began teaching classes in the Master's in Port Management and Logistics in 2004 and has since maintained a continuous relationship with the center. He believes that students especially appreciate the contact with real experiences and with the vision of someone who works in an international environment like that of the International Maritime Organization itself, which brings a direct practical translation to the theoretical contents.
Asked in the interview about the importance of strategic maritime corridors, amid the public debate that the conflicts in the context of the Strait of Ormuz have raised in recent months, Jiménez recalls that Spain occupies a privileged position from a maritime point of view and that the province of Cádiz, with the Strait of Gibraltar as an immediate reference, constitutes an exceptional scenario for understanding the operation of the sector. "It is a permanent source of knowledge, experience, and opportunities for both professionals and students," he points out. The proximity of this maritime passage, integrated into the daily academic and professional life of the area, helps, in his opinion, to acquire a broad perspective both of the problems it entails and of the opportunities it offers and of the specialization its management requires.
