Latest News

The Redundancy and Retraining Bursary Fund - created by the Maritime Charities Group and administered by Marine Society - is to be extended until March 31st 2022 amid ongoing Covid resitrictions and latest industrial developments.

Trinity House and the Merchant Navy Welfare Board, both of which are MCG members, will be providing the bulk of bursary funding, alongside a contribution from the Slater Fund.

The scheme has been helping unemployed UK seafarers affected by redundancy or cancellation of a contract to retrain or upskill since its inception last year. Seafarers such as John Scott Agnew have already benefitted from the fund, his story was covered in the Nautilus Telegraph.

Go to our Redundancy Fund page for more details.

The Marine Society Team are delighted to announce that we have achieved a further 3 years re-accreditation by Matrix.

matrix Standard is the international quality standard for organisations that deliver information, advice and guidance (IAG). Either as their sole purpose or as part of their service offering.

We were first awarded accreditation in 2009 as part of our IAG delivery which underpins all of our services and our support to seafarers.
It is now a requirement by the ESFA for education providers who receive government funding, with Marine Society passing the Matrix review for a fifth time.

On Sunday 14th November, Carla Rockson, Head of Seafarer Learning and Welfare attended the Honourable Company of Master Mariners service for Royal Navy and Merchant Navy seafarers to commemorate Remembrance Sunday at the beautiful Trinity Square Gardens in Tower Hill, London.

The service was well attended by all areas of the maritime sector to give thanks to those who lost their lives in battle on land and at sea.

Wreaths were laid to pay respect to those who have fallen and recognition was given to those who serve today. 

Carla paid her respects by laying a wreath on behalf of Marine Society & Sea Cadets.

The UK’s newest polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough paid Greenwich a visit as part of the three day Ice Worlds Festival – an insight into life and work in Antarctica and the Arctic.

The vessel – that was almost named Boaty McBoatface due to public demand – will shortly embark on its first  journey to Antarctica. The vessel visited London in support of the vitally important UN Climate Change Conference COP26.

The exhibition showcased the wondrous possibilities that environmental science, engineering and technology could conjure, with opportunities to meet real life scientists and explorers and gain an understanding of what innovative methods are being used to uncover the oceans secrets.

Marine Society’s affiliation with the RRS Sir David Attenborough lays within its library, with the charity hosting the vessel’s paperback library – one of five paperback libraries that Marine Society is responsible for.

The charity has been dispatching physical books since carrying out their first library service for SS Aenaeas back in 1920

The charity’s books and libraries manager, Lenka Pospisil, was in attendance for the exhibition and got a great view of the ship before it leaves London.

The vessel has been docked in Greenwich since October 27^th and the vigorous process of stocking the ship with cargo for the five Antarctic research stations as well as spare parts for the vessel and consumables for the duration of the mission has begun.

The ship will set off for the southernmost continent later this month.

This September, the maritime industry once again celebrated London International Shipping Week. This biannual event gives maritime institutions the opportunity to share, promote and collaborate with stakeholders, clients and potential customers.

This year felt extra special as the week of events allowed the maritime community to once again engage in face to face contact after a long and frustrating period of virtual handshakes.

Marine Society looked to attract the next generation of seafarers and maritime professionals by exhibiting at Maritime UK’s careers and jobs fair on board the HQS Wellington, home of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners on the Thames,

The two day event targeted school age young people and adult jobseekers and was accessible both in person and via livestream with regular Q&A panels for those online. It was also a chance to network with other exhibitors and renew old acquaintances.

Marine society also co-presented at two other key events during the week. Its’ Coming Ashore programme was showcased at a Nautilus International event sponsored by Maritime London. Over 150 seafarers viewed the seminar and were able to post questions to a panel of industry professionals that included Steve Cameron, one of Marine Society’s Coming Ashore mentors.

The charity was also invited to present at an educational showcase hosted by Maritime UK in the impressive offices of Clarksons Platou. This provided a great opportunity to promote the new level 3 diploma in maritime studies that Marine Society developed and now delivers to prospective entrants to commercial shipping ashore. Again, a large online audience attended thanks to the video conferencing technology that has become ubiquitous since the pandemic.

The final event of the week was the Mersey Maritime Industry Awards held at Anfield, Liverpool. Marine Society’s very own Tom Saunders was shortlisted for apprentice of the year award although narrowly missed out to the Royal Navy candidate.