The UK has a proud maritime heritage dating back many centuries, and it maintains an excellent reputation worldwide for the high quality of its seafarers and the commercial shipping fleet, as well as the extensive range of business services provided by the wider maritime industry sectors.

Taken as a whole, the maritime sector is a significant contributor to the UK’s economy, with over £17 billion recorded in 2017 and more than 220,000 people employed in a myriad of related occupations. Shipping alone added £6 billion to the economy in 2020.

The British Merchant Navy can actually trace its origins back to the 17^th Century and, as an island nation, the UK still remains heavily dependent upon its merchant ships and seafarers for 95% of all imported goods. Many of the things we all take for granted, such as electrical goods from Japan and oil from the Middle East, are only available because fleets of ships continuously sail the world’s oceans.

Seafaring offers a wealth of opportunity and provides mariners with the education, training and experience for a lifetime of rewarding challenges, whether at sea or ashore in the longer term.

An inspiring quotation from Mark Twain captures the essence of choosing a career at sea:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbour and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream and discover”.