Check out all 13 submissions below and pick your top choice!

1. Adopt A Ship InterNational Team

Adopt A Ship International San Pedro (AASI-SP) is a volunteer-led partnership initiative that connects students with maritime professionals, shipping companies, and educational institutions to promote maritime career awareness and opportunities for young people through mentoring, educational programs, and direct industry engagement.

2. Capt. Pradeep Chawla

Capt. Pradeep Chawla, a former Master Mariner and founder of MarinePALS, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award for his four-decade contribution to maritime education through pioneering digital innovations including microlearning, gamified training, and VR-based systems that have modernised competency development and safety culture for over 50,000 seafarers across 1,200 vessels globally.

3. Chief MAKOi

Chief MAKOi (Chief Engineer Mark Phillip Laurilla), with over 25 years of maritime experience including 13 years as Chief Engineer, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award for building a trusted global platform that influences aspiring seafarers, cadets, and maritime students through honest guidance about seafaring opportunities and challenges, combining his roles as seafarer, instructor, course developer, professor, and PHILCAMSAT training executive to modernize maritime education through digital transformation while consistently informing, inspiring, and empowering the next generation of maritime professionals through educational content, school engagements, industry forums, and public advocacy that emphasizes discipline, competence, continuous learning, and resilience.

4. Engr. Donald Bautista: Advancing Maritime Excellence Through Education and Leadership

Engr. Donald Bautista, Managing Director of the United Marine Training Center and former engineering educator, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award for his lifelong dedication to competency-based maritime and industrial training, advancing safety culture through initiatives like the "Weld of Excellence Ship Fitter" concept, and contributing to national maritime curriculum development that bridges education with real-world industry requirements to produce highly skilled, safety-conscious professionals.

5. KC Abigail L Chin

KC, a female seafarer with a decade of sea experience, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award for using social media and content creation to raise awareness about seafaring life, earning multiple global award nominations, co-founding PinkWave as a support network for female seafarers, and collaborating with organisations like IMO and Mission to Seafarers to advocate for women at sea and inspire meaningful change in the maritime community.

6. Lighthouse Innovations - Paps the Sailor: Guiding the Next Generation Toward a Future at Sea 

Paps the Sailor, a research-led digital maritime advocacy initiative by Lighthouse Innovations, Inc., is nominated for the Industry Champion Award for addressing misconceptions and information gaps that prevent young Filipinos from considering seafaring careers through authentic storytelling and culturally relevant content, achieving 24.7 million accumulated engagement points, 23,500 followers, and transforming social media into a scalable career-guidance platform that builds informed confidence in maritime professions among the next generation.

7. Mailyn Borillo 

Mailyn Borillo, with nearly 30 years in maritime leadership, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award as the first female President of OSM Maritime Services, first female Managing Director of a ship management company in the Philippines, and first female Asian leader on OSM Thome's Global Executive Leadership Team, having grown the organization from 4,000 to over 8,000 seafarers while achieving over 60% female shore representation, founding the OSM-AD Foundation supporting over 120 schools and seafarers' families, establishing the OSM Seafarers' Family Club, and earning multiple recognitions including two Asia CEO Awards and a 2025 Top Women in Shipping ranking.

8. MARINO PH 

MARINO PH, established in 2016 as the largest maritime community and social media platform in the Philippines with over 2.7 million followers, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award – Audience Choice for promoting maritime careers as meaningful and rewarding by delivering trusted maritime news, career opportunities, educational content, safety awareness, and inspiring success stories while serving as an Accredited Social Media Partner of the IMO and Official Media Partner of the Department of Migrant Workers to bridge aspiring seafarers with resources, guidance, and industry partnerships that strengthen public awareness and encourage the next generation to pursue maritime professions.

9. Marwa Elselehdar 

The first Arab and Egyptian female shipmaster with over 16 years of maritime experience, including 10 years onboard commercial vessels and six years as Network Execution Manager at Hapag-Lloyd, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award for obtaining her Master Mariner certificate before age 30, serving as the only female officer onboard during the New Suez Canal inauguration, being honored by the President of Egypt, and dedicating her career to inspiring future generations—particularly Arab women—to pursue maritime careers through international speaking engagements with organizations like the IMO, mentoring young maritime graduates, and advocating for diversity and inclusion to demonstrate that maritime careers are possible regardless of background or gender.

10. MATTERS: Magsaysay Total Enrichment & Resilience System 

MATTERS (Magsaysay Total Enrichment & Resilience System) is Magsaysay's integrated crew welfare framework nominated for the Industry Champion Award for supporting over 70,000 Filipino seafarers worldwide through holistic programs encompassing safety, professional development, mental wellbeing, digital accessibility via the MWorld app and JumpIn platform, family support, the MOL Magsaysay Maritime Academy, community engagement initiatives, and future-ready technical training that achieves 95% crew satisfaction and 98% rotation efficiency while positioning maritime careers as purposeful and progressive for the next generation.

11. Meei Wong 

Meei Wong, with over 20 years of maritime leadership, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award as Co-Chair of the Global Maritime Forum's All Aboard Alliance and Founder/CEO of Circle Digital Ventures, where she develops digital solutions enhancing safety, healthcare, mental wellness, and financial inclusion for 26,000+ seafarers while advancing industry action to make maritime careers more attractive and sustainable for future generations.

12. PTC Sea Mariners Program 

The PTC Sea Mariners Program, established in 2013, is nominated for the Industry Champion Award as the first program in the Philippines to place Senior High School graduates as young as 18 on board international vessels through its pioneering "School-as-a-Ship" model that integrates STCW Basic Training, mentorship, and cadetship support to overcome barriers while developing safety-oriented maritime professionals and creating a direct pathway from classroom to global shipping.

13. The IMO - Bahri Next Wave Program 

The IMO–Bahri NextWave Seafarers Programme is a collaborative initiative that provides cadets from underrepresented regions with fully-funded onboard placements, mentorship, and practical sea-time experience to overcome barriers in qualifying as maritime officers, having already supported 19 cadets from 14 countries with plans for further expansion to build a more diverse and inclusive global maritime workforce.