Excellence in Seafarers' Welfare to be Formally Recognised at Annual Awards

UK – The contenders for the 2019 International Seafarers' Welfare Awards have been announced ahead of this year's awards ceremony on September 11, 2019, during London International Shipping Week (LISW). Organised by the International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN), the awards aim to recognise excellence in ships' crew welfare provision, and encourage all maritime organisations to raise their standards.

In February this year, ISWAN invited seafarers to nominate the companies, organisations and individuals in the maritime industry who provide them with the best welfare services and facilities. Nominees from around the world submitted their entries in order to be in with a chance of winning one of the prestigious awards, and these were reviewed by a panel of expert advisors. The following outstanding entries were chosen to form this year’s shortlist:

Port of the Year:

• Port of Geraldton
• Port of Hamburg
• Port of Singapore

Seafarer Centre of the Year:

• Houston International Seafarers Center
• Liverpool Seafarers Centre
• SCI Philadelphia and South Jersey
• The Mission to Seafarers – Gladstone
• The Mission to Seafarers – Sydney
• United Seafarers' Mission Tauranga

Shipping Company of the Year:

• Eaglestar Marine Holdings
• Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat)
• Scorpio Group
• Teekay Shipping
• Thome Group

The Dr Dierk Lindemann Welfare Personality of the Year:

• Association of Marine Electro Technical Officers (AMETO)
• Bien Carlo Galapon
• Emmanuelle Trocadero
• Garry South
• Praison Alexander
• Reverend Un Tay

The final decision on who will win now lies with a panel of seafarer judges. For the first time in the awards’ history, seafarers will be judging the shortlisted entries as well as making the initial nominations. Roger Harris, ISWAN’s Executive Director, said:

“The standard of entries was very high this year and our expert advisors had tough decisions to make in order to whittle the entries down to a final shortlist. These shortlisted entrants are shining examples of the hard work and dedicated efforts across the globe to provide seafarers with excellent welfare services and facilities, and we are excited to see who our seafarer judges choose as their winners.”

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on September 11 during LISW. Inmarsat will be holding two industry-shaping events at its headquarters in London in support of LISW, and the awards ceremony will mark the culmination of a day centred on crew welfare. Registration for tickets can be made here.