As Jamaica joins in the celebration of World Maritime Day, we stand at a crucial juncture in the evolution of global shipping and maritime safety. This year’s theme, ‘Navigating the future: Safety first!’ underscores  our collective commitment to ensuring that the maritime industry continues to thrive while prioritising the safety of all who navigate our seas.

On this Day of the Seafarer, we celebrate and honour the dedication, bravery, and hard work of every person who sails the seas, ensuring the flow of goods and services across the globe. This year's theme, "Safety  Tips at Sea," emphasizes seafarers' vital contributions to making the maritime sector a safer workplace. 

As we observe World Oceans Day our focus is on our glorious oceans. Here in Jamaica we are fortunate to be surrounded by the stunning blue ocean and we are able to appreciate first-hand the beauty, importance, and vitality of the world’s oceans, which cover more than 70 per cent of our planet’s surface and are home to millions of species of flora and fauna.

AS WE celebrate Day of the Seafarer, I extend appreciation and admiration for the brave men and women who navigate the vast seas/oceans, connecting continents and driving global trade while upholding the principles of MARPOL. This year’s theme: “MARPOL at 50 – Our commitment goes on”, with the focus on seafarers, MARPOL, and the marine environment - is timely as Jamaica strives for an
improved maritime space. 

The dedication, resilience, and unwavering commitment of our seafarers and the maritime industry are truly commendable.

On this day - the 25th of June - we recognise the importance of seafarers, both here in Jamaica and around the globe. Seafaring is a challenging but rewarding career and the world owes our
seafarers a great deal of thanks and respect – today and every day. Without seafarers there would be no shipping and without shipping world trade would be unable to function.
As an island State, Jamaica is all too aware of the importance of ships in bringing us food, goods, energy supplies and to transport passengers safely.