From Caribbean Life

The American Caribbean Maritime Foundation (ACMF) announced that it will honor three outstanding leaders in the maritime sector in the Caribbean at its annual Anchor Awards to be held Friday, Oct. 11 at the New York Yacht Club.

Taking home the Anchor Award prize this year will be Remy Vyzelman, president and CEO of Integra Marine; Gregory Purdy, SVP Operations, Royal Caribbean International; and David Harding, past president of the Caribbean Maritime Shipping Association, and Barbados Port Inc.

Since its inception in 2016, the ACMF has donated more than $200,000 toward scholarships and classroom construction to the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) based in Kingston, Jamaica.

The ACMF recently launched the Fern Khan Grant for students struggling to finish their degree at the CMU. Eleven scholarships, including the ACMF / Royal Caribbean International Scholarships, have been awarded to students from The Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Jamaica by the ACMF and the foundation has raised a Lecture Theater in the name of ACMF largest donor, Roland Malins-Smith, founder and retired president of Seafreight Lines Ltd. Mr. Malins-Smith is serving as honorary chair of the 2019 Gala, having received an Anchor Award in 2018 for more than 50 years of leadership in the sector.

“Aside from being about the students, this is also about partnership,” says ACMF Founder and President, Dr. Geneive Brown Metzger, former Consul of Jamaica in New York. “We would not be able to accomplish our mission without the generosity and commitment of our donors and sponsors.

“Of vital importance to the Caribbean economy, is the maritime sector, and it requires a well-trained, professional and local workforce of port operators, mariners, logistics staff to ensure its future,” says Emerson Alleyne, executive vice president of the Barbados Shipping Association.

Sponsors of the 2019 gala include Royal Caribbean International; Integra Marine Services; Hudson Analytix; Chalos & Co, P.C.; Monarch Yachts; Barbados Shipping Association; Caribbean Shipping Association; David Harding MBE; and Karren Dunkley, EdD.