World Maritime Day (WMD)

The Shipping industry contributes over 90 per cent of the world economy with food, fuel, raw material and manufactured goods all delivered by sea. It also provides employment for thousands of people yearly.
The Ministry of Transport and Mining salutes all our seafarers, who continue to provide essential services even under unprecedented and difficult conditions. The pandemic highlighted the professionalism and sacrifice of our seafarers, who served the country by ensuring that global supply and trade continued.

The Shipping industry contributes over 90 per cent of the world economy with food, fuel, raw material and manufactured goods all delivered by sea. It also provides employment for thousands of people yearly.
The Ministry of Transport and Mining salutes all our seafarers, who continue to provide essential services even under unprecedented and difficult conditions. The pandemic highlighted the professionalism and sacrifice of our seafarers, who served the country by ensuring that global supply and trade continued.

Seafarers make a “significant contribution” to the global community while a career at sea offers the possibility of “a remarkable journey”, according to Rear Admiral (ret’d) Peter Brady, the Director General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, who has experienced his own successful nautical life voyage.

Jamaica’s seafarers have been commended for their contribution to facilitating world trade, despite challenging circumstances encountered.

Minister of Transport and Mining, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the seafarers continue to provide essential services, even under unprecedented and difficult conditions.

He noted that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which challenged their resolve, highlighted the professionalism and sacrifice of seafarers who served the country by ensuring that global supply and trade continued.

Jamaica’s shipping industry, and by extension the Caribbean and the world’s, has been privileged to benefit from the expertise and influence of countless individuals who have, over the past several decades, made invaluable contributions to the sector. 

Their accomplishments are astounding, ranging from the physical development of the ports to the progress of its industrious workers and their advancement as individuals and a whole. For over eight decades, the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) has strived to acknowledge their collective efforts and we continue that enduring task of identifying and honouring these towering figures of the maritime sphere.