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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José Manuel Urreta Ortega , national president of the  Mexican Chamber of the Maritime Transport Industry (Cameintram) , presented his 2025 Work Program to the Navy Commission of the Chamber of Deputies , which highlights issues related to the development of cabotage, encouraging shipbuilding in Mexico, and the decarbonization of the maritime-port sector.

The document presented by Urreta also highlights topics such as the participation of the maritime sector in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor project , as well as continuing to promote maritime transport through tax incentives.

At the meeting, held in San Lázaro, Cameintram and Humberto Coss and León Zúñiga , president of the Navy Commission, agreed to work as a team and strengthen constructive dialogue.

This is intended to promote legislative proposals to incentivize the Mexican merchant marine , as well as other relevant interests, to achieve consensus and agreements with the goal of bringing Mexico’s maritime sector to a successful conclusion.

During the meeting, Coss and León Zúñiga expressed their interest and commitment to maintaining open channels of communication with Cameintram and working together to address the challenges facing the country’s maritime sector.

He said that the agency’s work as an intermediary for the productive sector, shipowners, operators, and other stakeholders has been essential in providing visibility and monitoring of the needs, challenges, and opportunities of this industry. He also stated that maritime development requires a state policy.

He also recognized the new members of the National Board of Directors of Cameintram, especially José Manuel Urreta for his recent appointment as president of the organization.

For his part, Urreta Ortega welcomed this first meeting with legislators and emphasized that they have working committees for all activities, through which they will develop each of the projects they have proposed.

In turn, Representative Gabriela Benavides Cobos welcomed Cameintram’s vision to continue promoting cabotage in the country, and offered ongoing communication to address issues such as the decarbonization of the maritime-port sector.

It is worth remembering that last January, the Mexican government  published a decree in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF)  specifying that individuals and corporations have the possibility of immediately deducting, until September 30, 2030, investments made in new fixed assets, specifically machinery, equipment, and ships .

The decree also promotes investment in technological developments that lead to inventions, patents, and certifications, to integrate more Mexican companies, especially micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), into local and regional supply chains.

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The Mexican Chamber of the Maritime Transport Industry (Cameintram) renewed its National Board of Directors on Thursday for the 2025-2026 term, during which José Manuel Urreta Ortega was sworn in as its new president.

The incoming leader confirmed that he will continue the work accomplished by outgoing president Raúl Téllez Villagra, and reaffirmed his commitment to working for the Mexican merchant marine and the country’s development.

“In calm or turbulent waters, we will work for the sector,” he told the chamber members.

Urreta Ortega indicated that the areas they will focus their efforts on will be cabotage, maritime highways, shipbuilding, support for federal government projects such as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT), the Maya Train, and the Dos Bocas Refinery; as well as contractual improvements with Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) , a focus on maritime decarbonization, nearshoring, cybersecurity, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence.

Present at the swearing-in ceremony, Vice Admiral Javier Torres Claudio, head of the Port Captaincy and Maritime Affairs Unit (Unicapam) , said that this month the Navy will begin a small coastal shipping project in the port of Salina Cruz, in the state of Oaxaca, to promote the CIIT, and also encouraged the Mexican merchant marine to participate in these projects now that various incentives have been established.

Urreta emphasized that one of the central pillars of his administration will be to consolidate Cameintram as the most representative and active business entity in Mexico’s maritime-port sector, as well as to defend the common interests of its members. To this end, he invited them to actively participate in the actions of his renewed National Board of Directors.

Cameintram recently celebrated its 35th anniversary and affiliates shipowners, operators, and service providers of the Mexican merchant marine.

The new presidency of Cameintram emphasized unity and teamwork among members and the current government, as well as within the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) and the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) , representing the interests of the maritime sector as interlocutors to improve the industry’s conditions.

In his speech, Concamin Secretary Héctor Ramírez Leal stated that the country’s industrialists will support the work of Cameintram and outlined their efforts to promote the participation of the Mexican merchant marine in national supply chains, as well as encourage investment in this sector.

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