Will Watson is Deputy Director, Marketing & Communications for International Registries, Inc. – which is the maritime & corporate administrator for the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Will has a long and award-winning career as a communicator within the maritime industry and, before joining IRI, he was a working journalist for the past three decades.

Most recently, he was Deputy Editor - Americas for Fairplay magazine and also wrote for Dredging & Port Construction, Safety at Sea International and Ports & Harbors. He has also been a guest columnist and writer for Sidelights – the quarterly journal of the Council of American Master Mariners; and Seaports – the quarterly journal of the American Association of Port Authorities.

Prior to his time at Fairplay, Mr. Watson held senior editing positions at several East Coast newspapers, including stints as managing editor of The Hour in Norwalk,, the Record-Journal in Meriden and the Ansonia Sentinel – all in Connecticut - and the Florence Morning News in South Carolina.

Mr. Watson is active in the National Press Club in Washington where he serves on the International Correspondents Committee, the Public Relations Society of America and the Inter American Press Association / Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa. He is also a member of the American Legion, the Air Force Association and the US Naval Institute and is a past president of the Connecticut Circuit of the Associated Press.

Mr. Watson has lectured in journalism, communications and maritime issues at the International Maritime Law Institute on Malta and at American University in Washington, DC. He recently organized and moderated an event termed Maritime 101 at the National Press Club where members of the general news media were briefed on the latest issues facing the global maritime industry and the importance of the industry to the global economy.