Blog
25 Jun 2024
by Chris Goldsworthy

Day of the Seafarer: Thoughts from Chris

For Day of the Seafarer IMarEST Chief Executive Chris Goldsworthy talks about the importance of seafarers and how the IMarEST plans to give back to the seafarer community with a special membership rate.

Over 90% of all cargo moved moves by sea, this currently is circa 11 billion tonnes per year. 

Without shipping, the world economy, and indeed, the world’s standard of living, would change dramatically. Of course, without Seafarers, there is no shipping! 

Seafarers are critical to our way of life and must be lauded for the contribution that they make to all of our lives. They spend a long time at sea, in all conditions and weathers, away from family and loved ones to perform this global service. This has to be recognised, and not only one day a year.   

A career at sea must be attractive to gain the number of professional Seafarers to be able to maintain this way of life. This includes a safe environment to be able to perform their work, free from blame culture and unnecessary criminalisation. 

The Marine Industry is facing an intense period of change, probably the most rapid in its history, and we, the IMarEST, are here to help and support in the coming transitions and further. 

Shipping, per unit of cargo, has three times less CO2 emissions than rail, ten times less than road and eighty times less than air transportation. However, of course, we collectively can, and will, do better to ensure environmental protection is a priority. 

So, as part of our heartfelt thank you, and to reach out with support to those whose place of work is at sea, we are announcing a new membership structure for those employed at sea to take advantage of and enjoy the full benefits of IMarEST membership at a lower cost, some of which are:

  • Networking 

  • Special Interest Groups 

  • Dedicated Seafarer area in our newly launched communication platform, called IMarEST Connect. 

  • New profession specific Career Development Pathways, which will include both mentoring and training, to support you in your career journey to wherever you wish to take it. 

  • On-going contributions to Seafarer safety 

  • Environmental topics 

  • Extensive technical library

Thus, on behalf of the global population, we at IMarEST wish to say thank you to all Seafarers, of all backgrounds, as you make our world. 

Find out more about our membership benefits here.

Return to listing