Heike Deggim joined the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1993. She is now the Director of the Maritime Safety Division and the Secretary of the Maritime Safety Committee, IMO's senior technical body for ship safety and security related matters.

Prior to her career at IMO, Heike worked as R&D engineer in the German naval shipbuilding industry, followed by several years as Senior Researcher at the Shipbuilding Faculty of Rostock University and later in various positions in the German Maritime Administration dealing among other things with tonnage measurement of ships and issuing of Tonnage Certificates.

Heike graduated in 1983 in Germany with a Master’s degree in marine engineering from Rostock University. She is a member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA).