Ali Akbar Marzban

Thirty years in ports and maritime affairs

Ali Akbar Marzban has spent three decades inside Iran's ports and maritime administration, from the legal and contracts desk of Imam Khomeini Port to the executive board of the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO).

Trained in law at Shahid Beheshti University and in maritime affairs at the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden, he spent eight years in London as Iran's Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and to the IOPC Funds. During that time he took part in more than 210 IMO sessions, chaired the Credentials Committee of the IMO Assembly, served as vice-chair of the Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Convention and Protocol, and chaired the club of permanent representatives and maritime attachés.

Back in Tehran he advised the PMO's Managing Director, led the Directorate General for Seafarers' Affairs and International Organizations for eight years, and served as Deputy for Maritime Affairs and member of the PMO Executive Board. The IMO Secretary-General appointed him IMO Maritime Ambassador in Iran in 2015.

Today he brings that experience to governments, port authorities and maritime companies that need to turn international rules into decisions that work in practice, and to negotiate with confidence with foreign partners.