Opportunities to Work at Sea was the theme for Seafarers Awareness Week, co-ordinated by Seafarers UK last week to raise awareness of our dependence on seafarers and to highlight the career possibilities the maritime world offers to young people.
The week involved eight strategic partners, plus more than 100 maritime industry associations, employers, training providers and recruitment organisations.
It started with a live Q&A session on maritime careers, featuring key industry experts and training colleges and many companies, organisations and individuals posted and shared stories during the week using social media.
Keeping up the Q&A theme, the Seafarers Awareness Week team interviewed a wide range of people about their careers and thoughts on opportunities to work at sea, all of whom provided a fascinating insight into their maritime journeys.
Supporters were also encouraged to create news stories on their websites, getting media coverage of activities and celebrations. Working with careers publications and websites, the Seafarers UK infographic was also shared by Jobsite and other career sites, reaching a far wider audience than ever before.
Many maritime related events were also held during the week including conferences, an open day at Warsash Maritime Academy, charity abseils and dinners, with the climax of the week being the International Day of the Seafarer on 25th June.
For this, Seafarers UK held a reception, sponsored by Inmarsat Global, at the International Maritime Organization’s HQ in London, and it was the highlight of the Seafarers Awareness Week activities. Attended by Koji Sekimizu (pictured), IMO Secretary-General, the event attracted over 150 top industry guests, who experienced the launch of a series of specially commissioned short films, which follow the early training experiences of several young people at sea.
This was followed by the unveiling of the Seavision Career Navigator portal, a new website designed to host career information and guidance for those seeking the whole picture of maritime job opportunities at sea and ashore.
Nick Harvey, Campaigns Manager at Seafarers UK, said: ‘Promoting maritime job opportunities proved to be a very popular theme this year, with widespread support forthcoming from partner and supporter organisations who made the most of the opportunity Seafarers Awareness Week provides to reach a huge audience, especially via social media.
“Our reception on 25th June was a great launch pad for our five new films of young people embarking on their careers at sea, and the IMO’s HQ was the perfect venue to preview Seavision’s exciting new web portal that looks set to be a great success.”
