You may or not be aware of the IMO Honours for Exceptional Bravery at Sea…

The Honours will be conferred on individuals or groups of individuals who, at the risk to their own life, perform acts of exceptional bravery in attempting to save life at sea or in attempting to prevent or mitigate damage to the marine environment. Such acts of bravery may also involve extraordinary seamanship skills in very difficult conditions or any other display of outstanding courage.

The Honours are intended to recognize actions in response to a specific incident, rather than multiple incidents that may have occurred during the qualifying period.

There are three categories of Honour:

1. The Award: for the nominee(s) judged to have performed the most outstanding act of bravery in a situation of grave danger to themselves or others and under very difficult conditions

2. Certificates of Commendation: for nominees who have committed acts of extraordinary bravery in a situation of danger to themselves or others and under challenging conditions

3. Letters of Commendation: for nominees who are judged to deserve some form of special recognition for their meritorious acts of bravery.

 The Honours relate to actions performed during the period 1 March 2023 to 29 February 2024.

The Nautical Institute would be delighted to endorse any members you feel would be worthy of recommendation for the Honours from among your branches.  Kindly give it some serious thought and let us know – ideally before Friday 16 February.

We expect to have all submissions ready and in hand by Friday 8 March, to allow us time to review and submit by their deadline of Monday 15 April.