Winners of International Seafarers' Welfare Awards

The winners of ISWAN's International Seafarers' Welfare Awards 2016 were announced on 24th June at a high-profile ceremony held in Manila, the Philippines. The ceremony forms part of ISWAN's celebrations in the Philippines for the IMO Day of the Seafarer. The awards were presented by IMO Secretary General Mr Kitack Lim to seven recipients who have provided exceptional services for the welfare and wellbeing of seafarers.

The winners are:

  * Judges' Special Award: Duckdalben International Seamen's Club
  * Shipping Company of the Year: Anglo-Eastern Ship Management and MF Shipping Group
  * Port of the Year: Bremerhaven
  * Seafarers' Centre of the Year: Stella Maris, Barcelona
  * Dr Dierk Lindemann Welfare Personality of the Year Award (organisation): Associated Marine Officers' and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP)
   * Dr Dierk Lindemann Welfare Personality of the Year Award (individual): Reverend Stephen Miller

The Welfare Personality of the Year Award is named after Dr Dierk Lindemann who sadly passed away on 17 March 2014. Dr Lindemann served as the Shipowner's Group spokesperson at the ILO and took a lead role in the adoption of the Maritime Labour Convention.

This year's judges were:
Shipping Company of the Year: Masamichi Morooka - Chairman of ICS. Helen Sampson - Director of Seafarers' International Research Centre, Cardiff University. Jacqueline Smith - Maritime Co-ordinator, ITF.
Port of the Year: Karin Orsel - CEO of MF Shipping, President of WISTA, Vice-Chair of ICS. Kuba Szymanski - Secretary General of InterManager. Andy Winbow - former Assistant Secretary-General and Director of Maritime Safety Division at the IMO.
Seafarers' Centre of the Year: Bruno Ciceri - Chairman of ICMA. Kimberly Karlshoej - Head of the ITF Seafarers' Trust. Robert Kledal - CEO, Wrist Ship Supply.
Dr. Dierk Lindemann Welfare Personality of the Year: Masamichi Morooka - Chairman of ICS. Rose George - award-winning maritime author. Per Gullestrup -  Chairman of ISWAN.

Roger Harris, ISWAN Executive Director, said of the evening, "It has been an honour to hold the awards here in the Philippines, home to a large number of the world's seafarers. All of tonight's award winners and shortlisted candidates have made a great contribution to improving the lives of seafarers, and we are delighted to be able to celebrate with them."

The awards are generously funded by the ITF Seafarers' Trust.

This year's sponsors also include Inmarsat, Wrist Ship Supply (Seafarers' Centre of the Year), Crewtoo (media sponsor), Garrets (Shipping Company of the Year), and the International Chamber of Shipping (Dr Dierk Lindemann Welfare Personality of the Year Award- Individuals and Organisations). The event is also supported by ILO, IMO and ICMA.