“Here in the Cayman Islands our rich maritime heritage plays a very important part in determining who we are as a culture.

“One thing that many Caymanians and residents have in common, regardless of how recent our arrival, is that we all feel the pull of the sea that bounds our beautiful Islands.

“Yet while there are still a number of Caymanians who make a living on the seas, this is mostly within the local watersports and commercial fishing industries. Most other activity is recreational.

“This is a far cry from decades gone by when most Caymanian men went to sea to earn hard currency to support their families.”

These are the opening sentences from Cayman Islands Minister for Culture, Hon. Dwayne Seymour’s. Message to mark International Day of the Seafarer Monday, 25 June 2018.

The International Maritime Organization have highlighted seafarers’ wellbeing, particularly their mental health.

They have stated: “To give further exposure to this important issue, our choice for the 2018 Day of the Seafarer theme is “seafarers’ wellbeing”.

“By addressing the issue of seafarers’ wellbeing and particularly mental health, this campaign can inform specific strategies to tackle stress and other issues affecting seafarers’ mental conditions – and make the tools available more widely known.

“The campaign will seek to highlight and showcase best practices and good examples but will also, inevitably, bring out areas of concern and examples of shortcomings.”

Yesterday, I watched an old movie (1951) on television, “Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N” based on the C.S. Forester’s classic novel. There were some classic battles between the English and the Spanish/French brilliantly filmed showing how terrible things must have been for seafarers having to fight. And seafarers do not need adversaries of the human kind to fight. They also have to fight nature
that is even more terrifying.

Christopher Columbus discovered the Cayman Islands in 1503 but it wasn’t until after 1670 when the British Crown acquired the three islands that permanent settlers came.

We are celebrating sixty years of our Coat of Arms with its motto, “He hath founded it upon the seas” which, is printed at the bottom of the shield. The verse is from Psalms 24.

All the Cayman families will have at least someone who was a sailor and/or a shipbuilder and even now living on one of the three islands the sea is not far away.

It is fitting that mental illness, a subject not readily associated with seafarers, is being brought forward to show how stress has impacted their lives.

Seafaring is something we have taken for granted and its importance is gradually being lost.

Thank goodness we have The Seafarers Association. Their vision is:

“…a community where all Seafarers lead healthy, productive and successful lives. We remain steadfast in our mission.
To assist Caymanian Seafarers and/or their families in need by improving their quality of life. Enabling them to live with a sense of dignity and also advocating for their rights.
To document and recognise the significant role Seafarers played in the development of the Cayman Islands.
To encourage young Caymanians to pursue a career in a maritime related field.”

This country came alive because of seafarers and it will perish if we forget them.