Captain Paulino Morán officially stepped down as Director General of the Merchant Marine on July 31, 2025, after nearly five years of management in this office in various areas and positions, amid a restructuring of authority in the Mexican maritime sector.
T21 spoke with him a couple of days before his departure, justified by “personal reasons,” which marks the end of an administration that faced serious institutional setbacks and promoted an ambitious modernization agenda, with advances in digitalization, maritime training, and the reactivation of national cabotage.
Morán, with a career forged in both the public and private sectors, inherits a General Directorate of the Merchant Marine – an office belonging to the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) of the Ministry of the Navy (Semar) – with more agile and structured processes than those he received in 2021, when the agency was still in the hands of the then Ministry of Communications and Transportation -SCT (today the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation – SICT ).
Cabotage: between intention and institutional impulse
One of the priority areas of Morán’s administration was the promotion of cabotage, an activity historically neglected in Mexico’s maritime and port agenda. Under his leadership, the Merchant Marine successfully reactivated the Merchant Marine Development Fund (FONDEMAR) , with resources totaling 254 million pesos, operated by the National Finance Corporation (Nafin) and endorsed by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) .
According to Morán, the fund is primarily focused on supporting coastal shipping projects under the Mexican flag and crew , seeking to incentivize the national fleet and combat its historical backlog. Although no agreements have been signed yet, some interested shipowners have already approached Nafin to apply for loans backed by FONDEMAR.
At the same time, the captain explained that technical support was provided to the new Matamoros port project, which received its first ship on July 31, 2025. The General Directorate of the Merchant Marine participated in the preparation of the maneuverability study that determined the maximum length, beam, and draft capacities , thus enabling its operation. Morán described this effort as “an honor,” as it is the first new port in decades.
Modernization: from bureaucracy to the digital system
When Morán took over as Director of Navigation in 2021 at the same General Directorate of the Merchant Marine, he detected a backlog of up to 10 years in the issuance of certificates and their endorsements for seafarers, critical inputs for merchant mariners to work. Under his leadership, he indicated that processes were automated, databases were digitized, and manual procedures that relied on paperwork and packaging were eliminated.
This structural change reduced the issuance time for endorsements from eight months to just three to five days, and the issuance of degrees went from a decade-long delay to a regularization of 1.5 months, with more than 1,800 professional degrees issued from 2021 to 2024 , and the first electronic degrees ready in June 2025.
Training and supervision with international standards
Another front was the organization of the maritime training system. Under his leadership, the Directorate standardized the names of programs and institutions to align with the national education system and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) STCW Convention . Nine bachelor’s programs with electronic degrees were established, and 18 private institutes were regularized, which must now comply with IMO model courses, camera monitoring, and instructor validation.
Morán’s motto was forceful: “We’re not paid to issue certificates, we’re paid to provide training .” This vision also translated into biometric control measures, the use of cameras in authorized clinics for medical examinations, and the establishment of an Advisory Committee, with the participation of the Internal Control Body of Semar, to oversee preventive medicine in maritime transport.
Career: from TMM to the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine
Paulino Morán graduated from the Tampico Merchant Nautical School . After these initial studies, he began his career at Grupo TMM in 1984, where he quickly rose to the rank of Captain. After a decade in the merchant and oil marine, he held executive positions abroad , including international management of tankers for operations in Houston and Coatzacoalcos.
Before entering public service, he was director of operations at Navalmex , a fuel transportation company. He moved into public administration in 2021, when he joined the Maritime Directorate in Manzanillo , and rose through the ranks to become Director General of the Merchant Marine in 2024, a position he held until his recent departure.
Earrings
In Morán’s opinion, the change in leadership of the maritime sector from the SCT to the SEMARNAT was a success. He acknowledged that direct communication with the Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Raymundo Morales Ángeles, and the General Coordinator of Ports and Merchant Marine, Captain Manuel Gutiérrez Gallardo, allowed for more focused management that was responsive to the needs of the sector , especially the most vulnerable sectors such as coastal fishermen and local nautical tourism.
In his own words, “we’re doing well,” although he admitted that challenges remain, such as fully updating electronic certificates and consolidating FONDEMAR in practice, among others. His departure leaves a newly paved path for his successor, in a sector that requires immediate updating.
Replacement
The website of the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine has already announced Paulino Morán’s replacement. She is Captain Claudia Hernández Sordo , a graduate of the Tampico Merchant Nautical School. She has experience navigating bulk cargo vessels with a gross tonnage of 35,000, RoRo-Pax vessels of up to 24,000, semi-submersible exploration and drilling units, and oceanographic vessels with the Mexican Navy.
He has contributed to drydock operations in Mexico and abroad, as well as in offshore and coastal navigation . Administratively, he has held leadership and management positions, overseeing the implementation of SGS, SGI, and ISPS management systems, as well as insurance management and obtaining statutory and class certificates. He has also worked with WISTA International for the development and founding of WISTA Mexico since 2019.
She was recognized by the Secretariat of the Navy on International Women in the Maritime Sector Day 2025 and was recently named a Goodwill Ambassador for the CHIRP Program, where she promotes best practices in maritime security nationwide.
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