Photo provided by Warsash Maritime Academy, Southampton Solent University
Seafarers Awareness Week (20-28 June 2015) is delighted to announce that the Maritime Skills Alliance is the latest organisation to become a partner in the campaign to raise awareness of the UK’s seafarers and the world of seafaring. They join Careers At Sea, Day of the Seafarer (IMO), IMarEST, Marine Society, Nautilus International, Sea Cadets and Seavision.
This year Seafarers Awareness Week (SAW) will promote the vital role seafarers play in the UK and global economies – an industry employing 1.5 million seafarers worldwide, of which around 70, 000 are from the UK.
The Maritime Skills Alliance (MSA) creates qualifications and apprenticeships for the wider maritime workforce in the UK. Much of their work has been devoted to developing a suite of interlocking standards and qualifications which enable employees to progress both within their specialism and between sectors. The MSA has 16 members, including the Royal Navy, Port Skills and Safety, Merchant Navy Training Board and the Royal Yachting Association.
With this year’s SAW theme being ‘Opportunities to Work at Sea’ the MSA is a perfect fit. Their work aligns with the focus of the campaign which is the promotion of education, training and recruitment services leading to employment in the Merchant Navy – including container and other cargo vessels, fuel tankers, cruise ships, ferries, superyachts and workboats – the Royal Navy or UK Fishing Fleets.
Bill Walworth, Chairman of the Maritime Skills Alliance said: ‘The maritime industry these days is about high-tech equipment on sophisticated vessels, but Seafarers Awareness Week is our annual reminder that none of that counts for anything without the skills, training and commitment of the seafarer. In the Maritime Skills Alliance we do our bit to support seafarers, wherever in the wider maritime sector they work, by creating flexible qualifications and apprenticeships. We’re natural allies for Seafarers Awareness Week and delighted to give the campaign our enthusiastic support.’
Nick Harvey, Campaigns Manager at Seafarers UK, said: ‘We are very pleased that the Maritime Skills Alliance is a partner for Seafarers Awareness Week. It is vitally important to promote more widely the skills, education and numerous career opportunities available to the next generation of UK seafarers.’
‘With just five weeks to go until the start of SAW on 20 June, we are thrilled to have eight major partners and more than 75 supporting organisations. We want to spread the message as far as possible so if anyone else would like to get involved, please do get in touch. Whether you can hold an event in the week, distribute our promotional postcards, comment on social media or become an active supporter, it all helps promote the maritime industry and opportunities for young people.’
Website: www.seafarersweek.uk
The annual Seafarers Awareness Week campaign is co-ordinated by Seafarers UK, a major grant-making charity that supports the maritime community by paying grants of £2.5 million per annum to help seafarers in need, their families and dependants, and to support maritime youth groups.
