H.E. Eng. Essam Al Ammari
H.E. Eng. Essam Alammari is a senior expert at Transport General Authority. He holds a Navy Master of Science degree and bachelor’s degree in Naval Engineering and Naval Science from the French Naval Academy and was awarded with France’s national defence medal. He has 18 years of service in the Royal Saudi Naval Forces in various geographical locations in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, with a diversified experience in several aspects in the Royal Saudi Naval Forces as well as significant experience engaging with IMO member states as the permanent Representative for Saudi Arabia.
In 2013, Essam was appointed as a Naval Liaison Officer in Djibouti for a year before being promoted to Military Attaché in The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Djibouti, responsible for naval strategy development within East Africa and Horn of Africa. During his appointment, he established the foundations for the Saudi Military Attaché office in Djibouti, strengthened diplomatic and the military relations while also actively participated in Djibouti Code-of-Conduct and was awarded the medal of National Merit for Djibouti Republic Attaché presented by the Djibouti president Ismail Omar Guelleh.
Essam was then appointed as the representative of Coalition Forces within the board committee of the United Nations Verification Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) and was later appointed as the Head of Maritime Security department (Navy HQ) during a critical period of the regional challenges.
On January 1st, 2019, Eng Essam Al Ammari was appointed by royal decree as the permanent representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) where he has served until now representing Saudi Arabia at all IMO-related meetings., Mr AlAmmari has strong experience with international partnerships, bringing together discussion on complex issues as IMSO Vice Chair of the General Assembly session 28 and Vice Chair of the Technical Committee of the 32nd Assembly. He has also worked extensively in collaboration with the IMO and IMSO through projects such as the IMO CARES, IMSO LRIT and on numerous regional projects as well as championing for increasing engagement and funding for Saudi Arabia in IMO projects and technical cooperation.
Mr. Al Ammari is a strong advocate of gender-equality and uplifting representation in the maritime sector and was the first male to join the IMOGENder Network and remains an active and involved participant who currently facilitates the social media engagement for the organization. He also supports Arab Women in Maritime Association (AWIMA) and in honour of the inaugural day for Women in Maritime Day, in partnership with the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Al Ammari coordinated the first ever regional virtual conference ‘Preserving a Legacy of Resilience Towards Achieving a Barrier-Free Working Environment,’ that invited over 20 esteemed professionals from government, finance, shipping, and education. Mr. Al Ammari was also invited by the IMO as one of the two males to discuss ways to advance gender equality in their inaugural virtual symposium Training- Visibility- Recognition: Supporting a Barrier-Free Working Environment for Women in Maritime.
