International Seafarers' Welfare Awards Launched

JOC Staff |
The International Committee on Seafarers' Welfare (ICSW) is launching the first International Seafarers' Welfare Awards to recognise and encourage excellent welfare facilities and services for seafarers.

The awards will recognise companies, ports, welfare organisations and individuals who provide excellent welfare facilities and services to seafarers on land or at sea. They will be presented by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Secretary General, Admiral Efthimios Mitropoulos, at an event in London on 1st December 2010.

Roger Harris, ICSW Executive Director, said: Without seafarers we wouldn't get the essential goods and services we need to live our lives and run our economies, as shipping is responsible for transporting 95% of the world's trade. Seafarers' welfare is crucially important and that's why we've launched these awards. We need to ensure that seafarers are valued, their role recognised, and their wellbeing protected and enhanced.

The awards are being launched by the ICSW, which represents the main sections of the maritime industry, during the International Year of the Seafarer. They are supported by the IMO and International Labour Organisation (ILO), along with the International Shipping Federation (ISF), the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the International Christian Maritime Association ICMA.

There are four award categories - seafarer centre of the year, port of the year, shipping company of the year and welfare personality of the year. The first three categories will be nominated directly by seafarers via dedicated website www.seafarerswelfareawards.org or by post and email. The fourth award can be self-nominated or nominated by seafarers' organisations or individuals involved with seafarers' welfare.

The awards will be judged by leading figures in the industry, including Mr Spyros M Polemis, ISF President, and Mr David Cockcroft, ITWF General Secretary. Judging will take place in October and the winners will be notified by 31 October 2010.

The ICSW is distributing leaflets to seafarers through the 400 seafarer centres around the world and through shipping companies, trade unions and international welfare organisations. The deadline for seafarers' nominations is 15 September 2010.