# IMO Declares 25 June as "International Day of the Seafarer"



## Klaatu83 (Jan 22, 2009)

IMO declares 25 June 2014 as "International Day of the Seafarer": 

http://www.imo.org/About/Events/dayoftheseafarer/Pages/Day-of-the-Seafarer-2014.aspx


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## 8575 (Sep 8, 2006)

Forgive my scepticism but in UK I don't imagine the day will mean a lot since most of the population have lost touch with the sea. In the past when almost every family had someone at sea - RN or MN or Fishing - knowledge and appreciation of what seafarers did was prominent and supported. These days despite valiant efforts by various organisations to promote the maritime sector, knowledge of what it does, how it does it and what it brings to the UK, is largely forgotten.

The only time the population hear about ships is when there's a disaster. The press consistently get their facts wrong and their descriptions are woeful indeed. These days ships don't collide, ground or strand, they crash! Large ships are called "boats"! Even when they interview passengers on cruise ships it becomes apparent that their knowledge of the ship they are on is sparse to the point of ludicrousness. For a once great maritime nation it is sad to contemplate how things have changed in the space of one generation.

Sorry to be pessimistic but as someone who was at sea for many years and also in the shoreside maritime industry, it saddens me to see how swift the decline has been. Recently when in answer to a question I replied 'retired master', I was asked at what school I taught at! On another occasion a woman came over to me at a social gathering and asked what it was like in the mines? When I queried what she meant she said that someone had told her I was a 'master miner'! Ye Gods.


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## LouisB (Dec 23, 2007)

Waighty said:


> Forgive my scepticism but in UK I don't imagine the day will mean a lot since most of the population have lost touch with the sea. In the past when almost every family had someone at sea - RN or MN or Fishing - knowledge and appreciation of what seafarers did was prominent and supported. These days despite valiant efforts by various organisations to promote the maritime sector, knowledge of what it does, how it does it and what it brings to the UK, is largely forgotten.
> 
> The only time the population hear about ships is when there's a disaster. The press consistently get their facts wrong and their descriptions are woeful indeed. These days ships don't collide, ground or strand, they crash! Large ships are called "boats"! Even when they interview passengers on cruise ships it becomes apparent that their knowledge of the ship they are on is sparse to the point of ludicrousness. For a once great maritime nation it is sad to contemplate how things have changed in the space of one generation.
> 
> Sorry to be pessimistic but as someone who was at sea for many years and also in the shoreside maritime industry, it saddens me to see how swift the decline has been. Recently when in answer to a question I replied 'retired master', I was asked at what school I taught at! On another occasion a woman came over to me at a social gathering and asked what it was like in the mines? When I queried what she meant she said that someone had told her I was a 'master miner'! Ye Gods.


Sadly I agree with most of what you have posted.

LouisB. (Scribe)


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