Salute the essential Merchant Navy

Yesterday (Thursday, September 3) was Merchant Navy Day. The annual Merchant Navy Day service at the Merchant Navy Memorials, Tower Hill, and the Annual National Service for Seafarers, administered by charity Seafarers UK, at St Paul’s Cathedral in mid-October, are cancelled.

Early Lockdown panic buying caused shortages. Supermarkets and suppliers did their best to steady the ship and soon most of us could again buy essential goods. One reason that was possible was the same reason it’s been possible for our having uninterrupted supplies of most things for most of our lives – merchant ships bring goods to our ports 24/7/365.

Some 95% of UK trade by volume (75% by value) comes and goes by ship. Merchant seafarers are often unsung heroes in our nation’s story, their ships bringing energy supplies and goods to our islands whatever the weather or circumstances.

The seven seas are an unforgiving environment and, while sailors sometimes enjoy calm seas and a prosperous voyage, heavy seas, storms, hurricanes and danger are ever present – over one hundred merchant seafarers died last year. Early this year cruise ships were at the centre of another storm – Covid-19.

Over fifty thousand other ships – bulk carriers, general cargo, specialist and container ships, tankers, ferries and trawlers – have, however, continued to ply the seas, wearing our Red Ensign or Blue Ensign or flags of other seafaring nations. Twenty million containers are crossing the globe right now. Of the world’s 1.6 million merchant seafarers some 300,000 are stuck at sea, unable to leave their ships, world travel restrictions having denied routine crew changes.

For many seafarers life is hell right now, without them your life might be hell too. Let’s salute Merchant Seafarers – our essential workers at sea.

Lieutenant Commander Les Chapman (Senior Warden, Honourable Company of Master Mariners)

Mark Dickinson (General Secretary, Nautilus International)

Rear Admiral Jeremy Larken (Managing Director, OCTO)

Vice Admiral John McAnally (National President, Royal Naval Association)

Captain Justin Osmond (Chief Executive, Shipwrecked Mariners Society)

Guy Platten (Secretary General, International Chamber of Shipping)

Captain John Sail (National Chairman, Merchant Navy Association)

Commodore Bob Sanguinetti (CEO, UK Chamber of Shipping)

Catherine Spencer (CEO, Seafarers UK, King George’s Fund for Sailors)

Rear Admiral Bruce Williams (Editor, The Naval Review)

Rear Admiral David Snelson (Chief Harbourmaster, Port of London, 2006-11)

Commodore Barry Bryant (Director-General, Seafarers UK 2002-19)

Commodore Michael Clapp (Commodore, Amphibious Task Group, Falklands War 1982)

Michael Everard (Prime Warden, Shipwrights’ Company, 1989-90)

Commodore Jamie Miller (Naval Regional Commander, Wales and Western England 2004-17)

Captain Martin Reed (Master, Honourable Company of Master Mariners 2017-18)

Commodore Ronald Warwick (Commodore, Cunard Line 1990-2006)

Captain Malcolm Farrow (President, The Flag Institute)

Captain Malcolm Smith

Captain Gordon Wilson (Head of Defence Studies (Navy) 1987-93)

Lieutenant Colonel Ewen Southby-Tailyour

Commander Giles Collighan (Hon Secretary, The Anchorites)

Commander Mike Evans

Commander David Hobbs

Commander Sharkey Ward

Lieutenant Colonel Ian Berchem

Lieutenant Commander Jamie Black (Chairman, City Naval Club)

Lieutenant Commander Mike Critchley

Lieutenant Commander Bob Eadie

Lieutenant Commander Lester May

Richard Shuttleworth (President, The Old Pangbournian Society)

Dr Anthony Wells

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