National Maritime Safety Authority, fisheries college celebrate seafarers day

THE National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) in collaboration with the National Fisheries College successfully staged a joint commemoration of the 2022 International Day of Seafarers recently.
The authority co-funded the fisheries college’s commemoration last Saturday which included an open day.
The International Day of the Seafarers which was annually observed on June 25, recognised the seafarers’ contribution and with recognition on the role that seafaring men and women had contributed globally and domestically and most especially during the past two years where this very unprecedented time of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic still presented a challenging working environment for both men and women seafarers.
This year marked the 12th anniversary of the day of the seafarer with the theme “your voyage-then and now. Share your journey”.
As NMSA joined the college to observe this day, it encouraged all to acknowledge the hard work by our seafarers to the entire global community and this year’s theme celebrated these men and women’s maritime voyages and journeys.
The commemoration started as early as 5am on Saturday with a dawn dedication prayer then later saw students and teachers from the college as well as NMSA team parading the streets of Kavieng right through to the Fisheries College.
Shortly after that, an open day was staged which saw the fisheries students display their skills and knowledge about their fisheries and seafaring career to the general public in Kavieng town.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) sanctioned June 25 every year as the International Day of the Seafarer, in an effort to educate and raise awareness on the steadfast sacrifices and invaluable contribution that seafarers made to ensure the facilitation of world trade and economy. NMSA observed this day annually and this year was no exception.
This year’s theme placed emphasis on looking at seafarer’s voyages, what it included and how it has evolved over time and what remained at the sea of seafarers’ reality.
This also provided an avenue for seafarers to share what resonated with them currently, whether it was the crew change crisis being unresolved or the future of technology.