Shipping Australia was privileged and honoured to host several Filippino seafarers at our Christmas lunch this year. They were part of a crew that were calling at Sydney at the time of our lunch.
Seafarers Mark Cabalteja, Jayson Pangda and Maclets Ladisla joined us for the event.
Capt Melwyn Noronha commented: “International seafarers are the often unappreciated foundation of the global shipping industry and we feel that at every opportunity they should be given a platform to be recognised and celebrated. And we were pleased to do that at our annual Christmas Luncheon as we have done before.
“As a former seafarer myself, I can say that you get so engrossed in your daily work that seafaring, and the ship, become your world. Exposure to events such as our Christmas Luncheon helps you to see another world, to understand in a social environment who the other people are in our sector, and to give you a brief insight as to how the industry works beyond the ship.”
“I feel that it is important to help global seafarers understand that there are opportunities around the world, and in Australia. Seafarers from the global pool are a great source of talent to meet Australian workforce demand and to fill vacancies now, and in the future – as, indeed, already happens today. We only need to look around the industry to see many people – born overseas – who fill vital roles in the Australian maritime sector”.
Shipping Australia also thanks the Reverends Un Tay and Retchie Salvador from the Missions to Seafarers for organising the attendance of the international seafarers at our event.