Safe Seas, Protected Shores: Join Our Next Navigate with Care Webinar

September 3, 2025

Written by Liz Thompson

The ocean is vast, but it is also vulnerable. Every vessel that takes to the water—whether a cargo ship, fishing boat, or leisure craft—relies on tools to navigate safely. Among the most important of these are Aids to Navigation (AtoNs), such as buoys, beacons, and channel markers. While they are designed to guide mariners and prevent accidents, AtoNs also play a critical role in protecting marine ecosystems.

When used effectively, these navigational aids help prevent vessel groundings on coral reefs, reduce disturbances to marine wildlife, and steer boats clear of fragile coastal habitats. They are an essential link between maritime safety and ocean conservation.

Join us for the next installment in our Navigate with Care webinar series, a free online event designed to give mariners, conservationists, and ocean advocates the tools they need to chart a safer, more sustainable course.

Navigate with Care: Understanding Aids to Navigation

Thursday, September 18, 2025
10:00 AM EDT / 4:00 PM CEST

What to Expect

In this webinar, experts will explain how AtoNs are designed, maintained, and deployed—especially in environmentally sensitive areas. You’ll learn how these tools interact with marine protected areas, coral reefs, and coastal ecosystems, and how they can be used to keep both people and the ocean safe.

The session will also highlight real-world examples where smart use of navigational aids has reduced damage to marine habitats and improved safety at sea.

Meet the Panelists

This session brings together leading voices in navigation and marine conservation:

Salesh Kumar, Hydrographic Surveyor, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Mahdi Al Mosawi, MENAS General Manager, Middle East Navigation Aids Service (MENAS) Maritime Operations Centre
Vincent Denamur, Dean of the IALA World-Wide Academy, International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation (IALA)

Together, they will share their expertise on the intersection of navigation and ocean stewardship, offering insights from the Pacific, the Middle East, and the global stage.

Part of a Global Effort

The Navigate with Care webinar series is part of a broader campaign developed by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation in partnership with the International Foundation for Aids to Navigation (IFAN). Endorsed as an official Action of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the campaign aims to reduce the environmental impacts of boating and promote safe, responsible navigation worldwide.

Whether you are a professional mariner, a recreational boater, or simply someone who cares about the ocean, this webinar is for you. Join us, learn more, and take the pledge to #NavigateWithCare.

Navigate With Care

Navigate with Care is a joint campaign by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation and the International Foundation for Aids to Navigation. It promotes safe and environmentally responsible navigation practices that protect both people and marine life.

Learn More

From Dialogue to Action: Ocean Foundations Gather in Stockholm

What can philanthropy accomplish when foundations working across ocean science, conservation, and sustainable development come together around a shared purpose?

That question was at the heart of the 6th UN Ocean Decade Foundations Dialogue, held September 7–9 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation joined philanthropic organizations from around the world for three days of discussion, collaboration, and planning focused on accelerating progress during the second half of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Facilitated by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the UN Ocean Decade Foundations Dialogue is a growing network of more than 30 philanthropic organizations committed to advancing ocean science, collaboration, and action. Since its creation within the framework of the Ocean Decade, the Dialogue has provided foundations with a space to exchange ideas, develop partnerships, and explore how philanthropy can help advance a healthy and resilient ocean.

Hosted by the Voice of the Ocean Foundation (VOTO), this year’s gathering began with From Depth to Action, an Opening Forum that brought nearly 100 leaders from the Swedish and international ocean community together at…

Meet IFAN: Helping Bring Navigate with Care to the Next Generation

If you’ve ever seen a lighthouse flashing from the shore or a brightly colored buoy bobbing in the water, you’ve seen Aids to Navigation at work.

Aids to Navigation, often called AtoNs, help mariners navigate safely. They can mark channels, warn of hazards, help vessels determine their position, and provide other information people need to make safe decisions on the water. Around the world, these systems help guide everything from small recreational boats to large commercial or container ships.

But safe navigation isn’t only about protecting vessels and the people aboard them. The choices mariners make can also affect the animals and ecosystems beneath and around them.

That connection between maritime safety and ocean conservation is at the heart of this year’s Science Without Borders® Challenge—and of our partnership with this year’s theme sponsor, the International Foundation for Aids to Navigation (IFAN).