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Day of the Seafarer 2026
Yes, its that day again. This time I have been waiting for it, while reviewing what is happening out there in the world for seafarers. And, yes, it is also Goats Cheese Day and National Catfish Day. When the day was initially proposed in 2010 the IMO resolution determined that it ‘encourages government, shipping organisations, companies, shipowners an all other parties concerned to duly and appropriately promote the Day of the Seafarer and take action to celebrate it meaningfully’.
Rescuing the P84
There were many individual events in my ten years of driving offshore ships which stick in my mind, but one of the most surprising, when I look back might have been the rescue of the P84 when I was captain of the upgraded UT704 Star Polaris.
P84 was a Pentagone semi-submersible, which was employed for years by Total to drill holes all over the North Sea. Pentagones were primitive semi-submersibles, early developments from the first model which had floated in America.
The Spirit of Discovery Misfortune
On 4 November 2023 the Saga passenger vessel Spirit of Discovery suffered engine failure while attempting to cross the Bay of Biscay in atrocious weather conditions. This resulted in extreme rolling during which the mainly very elderly passengers were thrown about, and suffered from impact with the sliding furniture. One man suffered a spinal injury which resulted in him dying on hospital four days after the ship had docked in Portsmouth.