Maritime Media Awards 2017
Wise Hok Wai Lum_CC-VT-SA 4.0 Int
PROGRAMME
Welcome A warm welcome to our twenty-second Maritime Media Awards. Once again, the number of nominations has increased. Is this a sign of a renewed interest in maritime affairs? There can be no doubt that maritime media coverage is gaining in popularity. Historical works reflecting the glories of the past still attract wide audiences, but there is a new discernible interest in the sea exemplified by offerings such as Sir David Attenborough’s amazing television series Blue Planet. Many more people are now aware of the sea as a vibrant ecosystem which needs our protection. This awareness would not resonate throughout the world without media involvement. Today the Maritime Foundation gives recognition to those energetic contributors who have so successfully brought a more vivid maritime dimension into our daily lives. The maritime scene also of course embraces shipping, trade, defence, security, industry, offshore exploration, fishing, leisure and education. To provide a wider perspective, we are today launching a new annual publication, Maritime 2017, which will be distributed free to all guests. The cover theme this year is ‘Can the ocean recover?’ but the publication also aims to address a wide range of subjects in more detail to create awareness and stimulate interest, particularly amongst young people. The Maritime Foundation is indebted to the Pew Charitable Trusts, which has sponsored Maritime 2017 as well as providing help and advice and supporting the dinner this evening. It has been an enormous pleasure working with the Pew Trusts team, and we are extremely grateful for their generosity. It is with sadness that we record the death of Countess Mountbatten of Burma earlier this year. She was our President for over thirty-five years and took an enormous interest in the work of the Maritime Foundation. Her firmly held belief was that we should never forget how the sea has shaped our history and helped forge our national identity. She was always there to give her support. We miss her presence and encouragement. My special thanks to all of you for supporting this charitable dinner and awards ceremony. Please sit back, celebrate and enjoy the work of the talented individuals who are the stars of this festival of the sea.
Julian Parker obe Chairman, The Maritime Foundation
Maritime Media Awards
2017
A new era has begun Admiral Sir Philip Jones KCB ADC First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff hundred such ‘megaships’ to visit UK ports this year. With Lloyd’s predicting that seaborne trade is set to double between now and 2030, there is a fantastic economic opportunity for this maritime trading nation of ours. Central to all our ambitions is the ability to meet the national demand for skills. The Royal Navy is proud to sponsor a growing number of university technical colleges. The latest, in Portsmouth, opened earlier this year, but we are also reaching beyond the dockyard towns to the likes of Aston, Peterborough and Reading, because our naval future is indivisible from the UK’s wider manufacturing and technological strength. So, as we gather for this year’s Maritime Media Awards, there is much to celebrate. I would like to thank our journalists, authors, artists and digital experts for dedicating their creative and persuasive talents to the maritime cause. We are first and foremost an island nation, with a glorious naval history and an unrivalled seafaring tradition, but the future promises to be every bit as exciting. With the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth we proved to the world that the United Kingdom still has what it takes to be a great maritime nation – and a new era of opportunity has begun. n Crown Copyright
W
hen the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed from Rosyth this summer, thousands of people were drawn to the water’s edge to marvel at this great British engineering accomplishment; many more watched on television and online as she arrived in Portsmouth to take her place, alongside HMS Victory, as the newest icon in our nation’s continuing maritime story. The Queen Elizabeth class carriers represent a triumph of strategic ambition. This project was first conceived twenty years ago, and it has survived five general elections, three defence reviews and a global economic crash. Yet it endured and, in doing so, breathed new life into six shipyards and secured thousands of jobs and apprenticeships throughout the supply chain. Now Britain’s maritime interests – civil and military – have a precious opportunity to maintain the momentum. Far beyond Rosyth, a quiet maritime industrial renaissance is under way. It includes ship repair, offshore infrastructure and the development of advanced systems, but is perhaps best exemplified by the construction of RSS Sir David Attenborough on the Mersey. The recently published National Shipbuilding Strategy seeks to build on this foundation with a blueprint for a more competitive sector that can serve the Royal Navy’s long-term needs and support UK exports. The greatest maritime opportunity of all comes from the relentless growth of global maritime trade. As we welcomed HMS Queen Elizabeth to Portsmouth, so the world’s largest container ship arrived in Felixstowe; one of a
Central to all our ambitions is the ability to meet the national demand for skills
The Awards
Desmond Wettern Media Award for best journalistic contribution
Desmond Wettern Fleet Award (Royal Navy)
The award for maritime journalism is made to the writer, broadcaster, academic or other person who has made the most constructive contribution to generating public awareness of the United Kingdom’s current maritime issues. The award has been presented annually since 1995. The prize is an engraved crystal decanter and a cheque for £1,000.
The award is presented to the HM ship, submarine, Naval Air Squadron or Royal Marine Unit that has made the best contribution to a positive image of the Royal Navy. Sponsored and nominated by RN Fleet Media, the award has been presented annually since 1993. The award is a cut-glass ship’s decanter mounted on a plinth of oak from HMS Victory.
Mountbatten Maritime Award for best literary contribution
The award honours an individual who has made a truly outstanding contribution to stimulating public engagement in maritime issues in a manner that has a special or cumulative value, and is not covered by the other Maritime Media Awards. This contribution may have been made either through a lifetime of dedicated service or through a leading role in realising a particular project, such as, for example, a major nautical festival, the consistently imaginative editing of a well-respected maritime publication, or the development of a particular maritime sector. The prize is an Athena bowl with an engraved silver base.
The award is made to the author of the work of literature (fact or fiction, prose or verse) that has contributed most significantly to public awareness of maritime issues. The award has been presented annually since 2001. The prize is an engraved silver Armada plate.
Donald Gosling Award for best television or film contribution The award is made to the director, producer or other person responsible for making the television programme or film that has made the most significant contribution to the public understanding of a maritime matter relating primarily to the United Kingdom. The award has been presented annually since 2006. The prize is a pair of crystal dolphins mounted on an engraved marble plinth.
Maritime Fellowship Award
The First Sea Lord’s Digital Media Award The award is made to the team or person who, in the opinion of the Awards Committee, has made the most constructive contribution to generating awareness of current maritime issues specifically produced and uploaded through digital media outlets. The prize is a Whitechapel bell.
Maritime Media Awards
2017
Nash Room • Institute of Directors • Pall Mall • London Wednesday, 8 November 2017
Programme
18.30
Guests arrive
Welcome
Reception
Waterloo Room
19.15
Proceed to dinner
Nash Room
19.30
Grace
The Reverend Deacon John Edell
20.45
Loyal toast
Captain Peter Hore RN
21.00
Welcome and presentations
Julian Parker OBE, Chairman
Première of DVD
Seaguard – The national and international challenges
Desmond Wettern Fleet Award
Crystal ship’s decanter
Maritime Fellowship Awards
Athena bowl
The Judges’ Special Award for Maritime Awareness
Crystal globe
The First Sea Lord’s Digital Media Award
Whitechapel bell
Donald Gosling Award for Best Television or Film Contribution
Crystal dolphin trophy
Mountbatten Maritime Award for Best Literary Contribution
Silver Armada plate
Desmond Wettern Media Award Crystal ship’s decanter for Best Journalistic Contribution
22.15
Presentation of port
Admiral Sir Philip Jones KCB ADC
22.30
Vote of thanks
Guests depart
e Maritime Foundation is grateful to Portland Port Ltd for generously sponsoring Th the Classic Cuvée 2014 from Crawthorne Vineyard on the Langham Wine Estate in Dorset: www.langhamwine.co.uk
Music: string ensemble from Her Majesty’s Royal Marine Band, Portsmouth
Guard of honour: City of London Unit, Sea Cadet Corps
Maritime Media Awards
2017
AWARD NOMINATIONS 2017 Desmond Wettern Media Award for best journalistic contribution Iain Ballantyne, Editor, Warships International Fleet Review Steve Bush, Editor, Warship World Richard Clayton, Chief Correspondent, Lloyd’s List Marcus Connaughton, Editor, RTE Radio 1 Seascapes Paul Gunton, Executive Editor, Riviera Maritime Media Steve Humphrey, Reporter, BBC South Today Peter Hore, naval writer and obituarist, Daily Telegraph Miranda Johnson, South-East Asia Correspondent, The Economist Sam Llewellyn, Editor, The Marine Quarterly Paul Ridgway, UK Correspondent, Seagull
Mountbatten Maritime Award for best literary contribution Jonathan Anderson and Edwin Low – Voyages (Lucky Panda Press/Anderson & Low) Günter Bäbler – Guide to the Crew of Titanic: The Structure of Working Aboard the Legendary Liner (The History Press) Peter Baseby and Roger Porteous – They Joined the Navy… and Saw the World (Blaisdon Publishing) Janette Benaddi, Helen Butters, Niki Doeg and Frances Davies – Four Mums in a Boat (HQ/ Harper Collins) Andrew Boyd – The Royal Navy in Eastern Waters: Linchpin of Victory 1935-1942 (Seaforth Publishing) Reginald Cogswell – Exeter: A Cruiser of the Medium Size (Navy Books) Nic Compton – The Shipping Forecast (BBC Books/Penguin Books) Nic Compton – Notable Boats: Forty remarkable craft, forty great adventures (Ivy Press) Steve R Dunn – Securing the Narrow Sea: The Dover Patrol 1914-1918 (Seaforth Publishing) Adrian Flanagan – The Cape Horners’ Club (Adlard Coles Nautical/ Bloomsbury) Nicholas Gray – Last Voyages (Fernhurst Books) Philip Hoare – RisingTideFallingStar (4th Estate) Peter Hore (Editor) – The Trafalgar Chronicle: New Series 1: Dedicated to Naval History in the Nelson Era (Seaforth Publishing) James Irvine, Brian Budge, Jude Callister, Issy Grieve, Kevin Heath, Andrew Hollinrake, Keith Johnson, Neil Kermode, Michael Lowrey, Tom Muir, Emily Turton and Ben Wade – HMS Hampshire: A Century of Myths and Mysteries Unravelled (The Orkney Heritage Society) Timothy Jeffery – Sail: A Tribute to the World’s Greatest Races, Sailors and their Boats (Quarto/ Aurum Press) Larry Jeram-Croft – The Royal Navy Lynx: An Operational History (Pen and Sword Aviation) James Kendra and Tricia Wachtendorf – American Dunkirk: The Waterborne Evacuation of Manhattan on 9/11 (Temple University Press, USA)
MA R I T I M E M E D I A AWA R D S 2017 – N O M I N AT I O N S
Paul Kennedy – The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery (Penguin Books) Emma Jane Kirby – The Optician of Lampedusa (Penguin Books) Robin Knight – Pangbourne College: Spirit in Changing Times (Third Millennium Publishing) Joshua Levine – Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture (Collins) Andrew P B Lound – RMS Titanic: Made in the Midlands (The History Press) Peter Lyon – Merchant Seafaring Through World War I 1914-1918 (The Book Guild) John McAleer – Britain’s Maritime Empire: Southern Africa, the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, 1763-1820 (Cambridge University Press) Christopher Martin – The UK as a Medium Maritime Power in the 21st Century: Logistics for Influence (Palgrave Macmillan) Charlotte Mathieson (Editor) – Sea Narratives: Cultural Responses to the Sea, 1600 – Present (Palgrave Macmillan) Jane Maufe – The Frozen Frontier: Polar Bound through the Northwest Passage (Adlard Coles Nautical/ Bloomsbury) Robert E Mullins and John Beeler (Editor) – The Transformation of British and American Naval Policy in the Pre-Dreadnought Era: Ideas, Culture and Strategy (Palgrave Macmillan) Glen O’Hara – Politics of Water in Post-War Britain (Palgrave Macmillan) Captain V S Parani – Golden Stripes: Leadership on the High Seas (Whittles Publishing) Barry Pickthall – A History of Sailing in 100 Objects (Adlard Coles Nautical/ Bloomsbury) Alistair Roach – The Life and Ship Models of Norman Ough (Seaforth Publishing) P G Rogers – The Dutch in the Medway (Seaforth Publishing) Jan Rüger – Heligoland: Britain, Germany and the Struggle for the North Sea (Oxford University Press) Ian Stephen – Waypoints: Seascapes and Stories of Scotland’s West Coast (Adlard Coles Nautical/ Bloomsbury) James Taylor – Dazzle: Disguise and Disruption in War and Art (Pool of London) Garth Walpole and Russell Potter (Editor) – Relics of the Franklin Expedition: Discovering Artifacts from the Doomed Arctic Voyage of 1845 (McFarland & Co Inc) Sam Warwick and Mike Roussel – Shipwrecks of the P&O Line (The History Press) Conrad Waters (Editor) – Navies in the 21st Century (Seaforth Publishing) A N Wilson – Resolution: A Novel of the boy who sailed with Captain Cook (Atlantic Books) Evan Wilson – A Social History of British Naval Officers, 1775-1815 (The Boydell Press) Stephanie Zarach – Trading History: The Baltic Exchange since the 18th Century (The Baltic Exchange)
Donald Gosling Award for best television or film contribution Renny Bartlett – Britannic: Titanic’s Tragic Twin. 360 Production (BBC Two) Nicola Bathurst – The Cruise: Sailing the Mediterranean. Wild Pictures (ITV) Peter Berg – Deepwater Horizon Lionsgate International (DVD, Blu-ray and On-demand) Sam Berrigan Taplin – Titanic: The New Evidence. Blink Films (Channel 4)
5
6
MA R I T I M E M E D I A AWA R D S 2017 – N O M I N AT I O N S
Julian Carey – Warship. Renegade Pictures (Channel 4) Philip Coles – Britain’s Lost Waterlands: Escape to Swallows and Amazons Country. Tin Can Island (BBC Four) Jon Cowen – Cruising with Jane McDonald. Elephant House Studios (Channel 5) Martin Gorst – Building the World’s Most Luxurious Cruise Ship. Windfall Films (Channel 5) Alan Handel – Pearl Harbour – The New Evidence. Handel Productions (Channel 4) Steven Handley – Mutiny. Windfall Films (Channel 4) Ian Herring – WW2: Hell Under the Sea. Parallax Productions (National Geographic) Donovan Marsh – Hunter Killer. Eagle Films (DVD, Blu-ray and On-demand) Jonathan Mayo – Combat Ships. Woodcut Films (History Channel) Karen McCairley – Mighty Ships. Bell Media, Canada (Quest) Alex McCall – The Epic Voyage of the Jubilee Hope. Glasgow Films (STV) Colin Murray – A Very British Deterrent. BBC Scotland (BBC Two) Peter Oxley – World’s Biggest Shipbuilders. Windfall Films (Quest) Mario van Peebles - USS Indianapolis: Men Of Courage. Lionsgate International (DVD, Blu-ray and On-demand) Matthew Pinder – The Queen Mary: Greatest Ocean Liner. STV Productions (BBC Four/BBC Scotland) Justin Sihera and Alexis Andrews – Vanishing Sail. Indian Creek Films (Hebrides Film Festival) Sky News Science Team – Ocean Rescue: A Plastic Tide. Sky News (Sky Atlantic) Luned Tonderai – Saving Lives at Sea. Blast! Films (BBC Two) Eve White – Sailors, Ships & Stevedores: The Story of British Docks. BBC Studios (BBC Four)
The First Sea Lord’s Digital Media Award ActiveCaptain – www.activecaptain.com Alert! – www.he-alert.org Association of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities – www.association-ifca.org.uk British Antarctic Survey – www.bas.ac.uk Exact Earth Europe – www.exactearth.com Jobs in Maritime – www.jobsinmaritime.com Port of Dover – www.doverport.co.uk Sailors for the Sea – www.sailorsforthesea.org South Shields Marine School – www.primary-stem.co.uk World Cruising Club – www.noonsite.com
Maritime Media Awards
RECENT AWARD WINNERS Desmond Wettern Media Award for best journalistic contribution 2007 Brian Lavery 2008 Julian Bray 2009 Peter Elson 2010 Tom MacSweeney 2011 Caroline Wyatt 2012 Richard Hargreaves 2013 David Glenn 2014 Sam Bannister 2015 Rear Admiral Chris Parry 2016 Ian Urbina
Mountbatten Maritime Award for best literary contribution 2009 Kate Lance 2010 Richard Guilliat and Peter Hohnen 2011 Prof. David Abulafia 2012 Prof. Callum Roberts 2013 Rose George 2014 Andrew Adams and Richard Woodman 2015 Prof. Barry Gough 2016 Peter Hennessy and James Jinks
Donald Gosling Award for best television or film contribution 2009 Ross Kemp 2010 Dan Snow 2011 Spencer Kelly 2012 Andy Attenburrow 2013 Will Anderson and Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall 2014 Simon Paintin and Adrian Edmondson 2015 Colin Campbell 2016 Diccon Green
Desmond Wettern Fleet Award 2009 HMS Illustrious 2010 HMS Kent 2011 845 NAS 2012 HMS Somerset 2013 HMS Monmouth 2014 HMS Daring 2015 HMS Bulwark 2016 845 NAS
Maritime Fellowship Award 2011 Richard Woodman 2012 Richard Doughty and Adrian Evans 2013 Andrew Linington 2014 Richard Sadler 2015 Prof. Alastair Couper 2016 Crispin Sadler
First Sea Lord’s Digital Media Award 2014 Aircraft Carrier Alliance 2015 National Museum of the Royal Navy 2016 Marine Conservation Society
AWARDS COMMITTEE Julian Parker OBE (Chairman) • Jack Ashdown • Commodore Mike Beardall RN David Botwinik • Debbie Cavaldoro • Sarah Fletcher • Rose George • David Hall John Johnson-Allen • Kathy Mansfield • Martin Muncaster • Captain James Nisbet RN (ex officio RN) • Professor Sarah Palmer • Alison Rayden • Alex Schillemore Jonathan Roberts (ex officio CoS) • Rob White
PAST AND PRESENT SPONSORS BAE Systems • Babcock International • The Bristol Port Company • British Marine Federation Chamber of Shipping • Daily Telegraph • Gosling Foundation • Great River Race Joseph Strong Frazer Trust • Kelvin Hughes • Livanos Trust • Lloyd’s Register The Mærsk Company • The Marine Society and Sea Cadets • The Nautical Institute Onshore Marine Medical Services • The Pew Charitable Trusts • Plymouth University Port of London Authority • Rolls-Royce • Royal Navy • Seafarer Books • Seafarers UK Sea Vision UK • Swire Group • Thomas Miller UK • UK Hydrographic Office
Top: HRH the Princess Royal presenting Professor Callum Roberts with the 2012 Mountbatten Award. Centre: Commander Gavin Edward RN, representing HMS Bulwark, with Mrs Gillian Wettern and Vice Admiral Duncan Potts at the 2015 Awards. Bottom: Ian Urbina, winner of the 2016 Desmond Wettern Award for best Journalistic Contribution.
Desmond Wettern –25 years on Richard Scott remembers the naval journalist and author whose commitment to deepening public understanding of our dependence on the sea inspired the Maritime Media Awards
T
Clarity and insight
memory is celebrated annually in the Desmond Wettern Media Award, established by the Maritime Foundation in 1995 to celebrate journalistic excellence in coverage of the United Kingdom’s maritime realm. Yet while the Media Award has kept Desmond’s name alive, there is a generation who have grown up not knowing the man or his work. And so, a little over a quarter of a century after his death, it is apt to reflect on his career in journalism, his deep affection for the naval service, and his passionate advocacy for Britain to reassert itself as a maritime power. Born in July 1934 and educated at Winchester, Desmond went on to complete his National Service in the Royal Navy. He subsequently started work in the trade press, going on to become a freelance contributor to a number of provincial newspapers. In 1961 he was appointed as the first
Desmond’s commentary was as insightful as his reporting was incisive. His grasp of current naval affairs, together with a legion of sources inside and outside of the RN, allowed him to quickly see through obfuscation and spin. Re-reading cuttings from the Telegraph, one is struck by a writing style that was always clear and concise – and frequently devastating in its critique. What’s more, Desmond was as comfortable filing on naval pay and welfare matters as he was in dissecting changes in the East–West naval balance. His affinity with sailors on every deck was clear in his reporting, and he was quick to raise issues which he felt could compromise the safety or security of naval personnel. In this way, he won the trust of many in the service who were themselves unable to publicly speak out about problems or shortfalls. In this same vein, Desmond relished the opportunity to expose the evasiveness of politicians and bureaucrats. He strived to ensure that individuals in positions of power and influence were held to account for their policies and actions, and those who chose to spin half-truths or deceptions were invariably found out. Alongside his work for the Telegraph, Desmond contributed to many specialist naval journals, and wrote two books: The Lonely Battle, which told the true story of a British sailor evading capture in occupied Shanghai during the Second World War, and The Decline of British Seapower. The latter, published in 1982, recorded the rundown of the Royal Navy in the post-war period in a narrative
naval correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph. He moved to the Daily Telegraph in 1975, and went on to cement his reputation as the United Kingdom’s foremost naval journalist.
Gillian Wettern
Desmond Wettern on HMS Exeter in 1983.
he untimely death of Desmond Wettern in December 1991 robbed the Royal Navy, and the maritime community in general, of one of its most ardent champions. The last of the specialist naval correspondents in Fleet Street, his
His affinity with sailors on every deck was clear in his reporting
DESMOND WETTERN – 25 YEARS ON
skilfully interweaving reports of activities and operations with an analysis of how political choices made by successive governments substantially eroded Britain’s standing as a maritime power. Desmond was forceful in his belief that the security and prosperity of the United Kingdom are inextricably bound up with the sea. He was equally convinced of the need to maintain a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. It is interesting to speculate on what Desmond would have made of today’s Royal Navy. While I have no doubt that he would have welcomed the arrival of the new aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, the significant decline in ship, submarine and aircraft numbers would have left him both shocked and dismayed. Nor could he have ignored the impact of those cuts on the health of the United Kingdom’s maritime industrial and technology base. Similarly, as much as he would hold the men and women of the modern Royal Navy in the same high regard as he did their predecessors, he would be asking hard questions about the pressures wrought by continued shortages in naval manpower. I think he would also be alarmed at the increasing difficulty faced by the media in their attempts to engage with the Navy’s senior leadership in anything other than ‘stagemanaged’ events.
An informed and instructive critic Much as he loved the Royal Navy, Desmond was not afraid to voice disapproval at decisions taken in higher echelons. That he was an informed and instructive critic serves as a reminder that the most valuable friend is the one prepared to tell the truth. Of course, journalism is itself in the midst of a transformation, with the rise of online news and social media. Desmond would have
Gillian Wettern
On the bridge of HMS Battleaxe in 1981.
revelled in the efficiency and immediacy of Twitter, and would have made full use of its ability to communicate with a large and diverse audience. And it goes without saying that he would have found himself increasingly engaged with the various micro-blogging sites that have sprung up to support the Royal Navy, and promote debate on wider maritime and defence matters. To conclude, it is important to remember that Desmond’s overriding mission was to deepen public awareness of Britain’s dependence on the sea, and the vital role which the Royal Navy plays in maintaining the security of that domain. That message remains as relevant as ever in this global and ever more interconnected age. n Two Awards are named in Desmond Wettern’s memory: the Desmond Wettern Fleet Award, established by the Royal Navy in 1993, and the Desmond Wettern Media Award, created by the Maritime Foundation in 1995 to commemorate his dedication to deepening public understanding that the United Kingdom’s economic wellbeing and security are inextricably bound up with the sea. Richard Scott is Naval Consultant Editor for IHS Jane’s 360.
Desmond was not afraid to voice disapproval at decisions taken in higher echelons
A message from the Indian Maritime Foundation Commodore Rajan Vir IN, President of the Indian Maritime Foundation
Commodore Rajan Vir
Rajan and Gita Vir at the 2007 Maritime Media Awards with (on the left) Lord Strathcona and Mountroyal, Countess Mountbatten and Gillian Wettern, and (on the right) Vanessa and Anthony Harvey.
O
n behalf of all of us in the Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF) I wish to extend our warm greetings and congratulations to the British Maritime Foundation, on the occasion of the Maritime Media Awards reception, and on offering this year the new publication Maritime. The Awards reception is a grand event year after year, masterfully organised by the Maritime Foundation, which is much looked forward to and attended by the international maritime fraternity in the UK – naval, merchant marine, fisheries, as well as representations from numerous shipping and port organisations. Selecting the winners from the very high standard of entries received annually is an onerous task but it is achieved admirably by the judges.
I had the honour of being invited from India to the Maritime Media Awards dinner as the guest speaker in 2007. The event was held on board the MV Silver Sturgeon, a popular venue on the Thames. It was a memorable visit for my wife Gita and me, and I am so grateful to Countess Mountbatten and the British Maritime Foundation for the hospitality and courtesy extended to us. The occasion underscored the close and friendly maritime relations, and indeed the ongoing networking, between our two Foundations in India and Britain. I am going back to the years 1994 and 1997 when the IMF was in its infancy and formative years and we were seeking guidance from like-minded and experienced charities in the maritime field. I had the good fortune to meet Mr Anthony Harvey at the Nautical Institute’s office in London. It was a fortuitous meeting, greatly beneficial to me, and I felt most encouraged to go on with my plans. The IMF has not looked back, and since then we have collaborated closely with our colleagues in Britain in many ways to promote maritime awareness among our
A M E S S A G E F R O M T H E I N D I A N M A R I T I M E F O U N D AT I O N
A recent issue of Seagull, the journal of the Indian Maritime Foundation
Rajan and Gita Vir with Countess Mountbatten during their visit in 2007.
people. I must add that from this networking and these exchanges between us, the IMF has been enriched enormously and we are grateful for it. The IMF is now a mature charitable, non-governmental organisation, in its twenty-fourth year, run entirely by volunteers who are navy veterans and former merchant marine officers.
Our goal Our goal when we first set out in 1993 was – as it remains – to raise awareness of the oceans and to rekindle maritime consciousness and pride in our people. In other words, our goal is to make our people sea-minded in our vast, subcontinental nation which has largely had a continental outlook, in spite of our ancient seafaring past. Our enthusiasm to fulfil our objectives remains undiminished. We take a holistic, all-embracing view of the oceans around India and beyond, and we are concerned with all its numerous aspects – naval, merchant marine, shipping and ports, fisheries, history and heritage, marine environment and climate change, marine art, underwater technology, underwater domain awareness, and so on. We organise lectures in schools and colleges, we run seminars at a professional level, we conduct ceremonies on Remembrance Days, and we carry out beach clean-ups on International Clean-up Day annually in partnership with the Ocean
Conservancy, a marine environmental organisation based in Washington DC. We publish a quarterly journal, Seagull, now in its ninetieth issue, which encompasses all maritime subjects in simple language to make it interesting and readable for nonseafaring members. Our membership is open to all men and women, in India and overseas. We network with numerous maritime organisations around the world, which helps us to acquire a wide-ranging international oceanic perspective. On this occasion of celebration, IMF sends good wishes and felicitations from India to all connected with the British Maritime Foundation. Our thoughts will be with you on 8 November 2017. n For more information about the Indian Maritime Foundation, please visit www.indianmaritimefoundation.org
From this networking and these exchanges between us, the IMF has been enriched enormously
Crown Copyright
RYA
NELSON’S LOST JEWEL Reborn: a sultan’s gift to Britain’s naval hero See the film now on https://www.maritimefilmsuk.tv/films/nelsons-lost-jewel/
n Creating media interest in the sea
n Remembering seafarers lost at sea
ighlighting the economic n H importance of maritime activity
n Working with like-minded organisations
Brristol Port Company
ringing maritime knowledge n B and skills to the young
www.bmcf.org.uk