For­mer Di­rec­tor of the In­sti­tute of Ma­rine Af­fairs (IMA), Hazel Mc Shine, passed away on Tues­day.

In a state­ment on Wednes­day, the In­sti­tute ex­tend­ed con­do­lences to her fam­i­ly, friends and com­mu­ni­ty "as we re­flect on the out­stand­ing lega­cy left be­hind by a pro­fes­sion­al known for her un­yield­ing pur­suit of ex­cel­lence."

Mc Shine served as the first fe­male Di­rec­tor of the IMA from 2000 to 2005. The IMA hailed her as an ex­em­plar of dili­gence and ef­fi­cien­cy. Dur­ing her tenure, Mc Shine played a piv­otal role in lay­ing the foun­da­tion that en­abled the IMA to be­come the Unit­ed Na­tions En­vi­ron­ment Pro­gramme (UN­EP) Re­gion­al Ac­tiv­i­ty Cen­tre for the Pro­to­col on Land-Based Sources and Ac­tiv­i­ties (LBS Pro­to­col).

"Her vi­sion­ary lead­er­ship and ef­forts in this re­gard have left an en­dur­ing im­pact on the In­sti­tute's stand­ing with­in the glob­al ma­rine af­fairs com­mu­ni­ty," the IMA said.