Capt Dr B Sitki Ustaoglu is a master mariner currently representing Turkey at the International Maritime Organization as the Alternate Permanent Representative. He was assistant professor at the Maritime Faculty of Istanbul Technical University until 2003 and the deputy under-secretary at the Turkish Maritime Administration (Undersecretariat for Maritime Affairs) from early 2003 to mid 2006 before taking up his position based in London.  His MSc is on maritime business and his PhD is on maritime policies, both from Istanbul University. During his academic studies he has been to the UK, USA and Japan for his research and has travelled to the Netherlands, Japan, Poland and UK for some of his technical training.