The 2024 ICMM Congress took place in The Netherlands and Belgium from 15 – 21 September 2024. The Congress was hosted by 4 museums – Maritiem Museum Rotterdam, Zuiderzeemuseum Enkhuizen, Het Scheepvaartmuseum Amsterdam and MAS Antwerp. More than 200 delegates attended in person and made this the largest ICMM Congress to date.

Photos of the Congress 2024 can be viewed here – Rotterdam and Amsterdam
Presentations from Congress 2024 can be viewed here

The 2022 ICMM Congress took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on 12-16 September 2022, hosted by the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. More than 110 delegates attended in-person and 20 joined online, representing over 30 countries across the world. You can watch all the presentations from Congress 2022 online here – ICMM Congress 2022

Other recent Congresses have taken ICMM to Sweden and the Åland Islands (2019), co-hosted by the Swedish Maritime Museum and Vasa Museet in Stockholm, and the Åland Maritime Museum in Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Chile (2017), hosted by the Maritimo Museo Nacional in Valparaiso, and Hong Kong (2015), hosted by the Hong Kong Maritime Museum.

All of our Congresses have enabled ICMM members to forge new relationships and partnerships with maritime museums in new parts of the world. ICMM is pleased to have gained a number of new members in each region as a direct result of each Congress.

Scroll down for a list of all past ICMM Congresses and Interim Meetings, and their host museums and locations.

2022 Congress delegates celebrating 50 years of ICMM at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The 2022 Congress was hosted by the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

2019 Congress delegates arrive for a tour of museum ship Pommern at
Åland Maritime Museum, Mariehamn, Åland Islands
ICMM members are welcomed to the 2017 Congress by our hosts from the
Maritimo Museo Nacional in Valparaiso, Chile
Former ICMM President Kevin Fewster (l) and Hong Kong Maritime Museum Director Richard Wesley open the 2015 Congress

Past ICMM Congresses

  • 1972: UK  National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 
  • 1975: NORWAY  Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum, Oslo
  • 1978: USA  Mystic Seaport Museum, CT
  • 1981: FRANCE  Musée de la Marine, Paris
  • 1984: GERMANY  Altonaer Museum, Hamburg
  • 1987: NETHERLANDS  Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam & Maritime Museum Prins Hendrik (now Maritiem Museum Rotterdam)
  • 1990: SWEDEN/ NORWAY/ FINLAND/ USSR/ ESTONIA  Statens Sjöhistoriska Museet, Stockholm, & others
  • 1993: SPAIN  Barcelona Maritime Museum
  • 1996: UK  Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool; National Maritime Museum, Greenwich; National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth; & Historic Dockyard Chatham, Kent
  • 1999: USA  Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA
  • 2002: SLOVENIA & ITALY  Sergej Mašera Maritime Museum, Piran, Slovenia, & Grado, Italy
  • 2005: NEW ZEALAND  New Zealand Maritime Museum, Auckland (last triennial meeting)
  • 2007: MALTA  Malta Maritime Museum, Valletta (first biennial meeting)
  • 2009: DENMARK  Fisheries and Maritime Museum, Esbjerg
  • 2011: USA  National Museum of American History, Washington, VA & The Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, VA
  • 2013: PORTUGAL  The King D. Carlos Sea Museum, Cascais
  • 2015: HONG KONG  Hong Kong Maritime Museum
  • 2017: CHILE  Maritimo Museo Nacional, Valparaiso
  • 2019: SWEDEN & ÅLAND ISLANDS  Stockholm Maritime Museum & Vasa Museum, Stockholm, and Åland Maritime Museum, Mariehamn
  • 2022: CANADA Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 2024: THE NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM Rotterdam Maritime Museum, Het Scheepvaartmuseum (The National Maritime Museum) Amsterdam and MAS Antwerp

Interim Meetings (held 1985-2003)

  • 1985: GREECE  Hellenic Maritime Museum, Piraeus
  • 1986: UK Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool
  • 1988: AUSTRALIA Sydney Maritime Museum
  • 1989: PORTUGAL Museu de Marinha, Lisbon
  • 1991: USA South Street Seaport Museum, New York, NY
  • 1992: FRANCE Musée de Bateau (now Musée de la Pêche), Concarneau & Le Port-Musée de Douarnenez
  • 1994: CANADA Vancouver Maritime Museum, BC
  • 1995: NORWAY Stavanger Sjøfartsmuseum
  • 1997: AUSTRALIA Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle
  • 1998: POLAND National Maritime Museum, Gdańsk
  • 2000: DENMARK Orlogsmuseet (Royal Danish Naval Museum), Copenhagen; Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde; & Maritime Museum of Denmark, Helsingør
  • 2001: NETHERLANDS ANTILLES Curaçao Maritime Museum
  • 2003: UK National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Falmouth
  • 2004: SPAIN Bilbao Maritime Museum (Cancelled)

Lists compiled from various sources