The International Seafarers' Welfare Awards, aimed at show-casing best practice in seafarers' welfare in the maritime industry, will take place on 28th November 2012 at the IMO in London.

The organisers of the Awards, the International Committee on Seafarers' Welfare (ICSW), have announced the short list of finalists for the Awards:

Port of the Year: Port of Corpus Christi, USA; Kandla Port, India and Port of Singapore, Singapore

Seafarer Centre of the Year: The Flying Angel Club Fremantle, Australia; Mission to Seafarers Sydney, Australia; Mission to Seafarers Vancouver & Roberts Bank, Canada; Seafarers' House Port Everglades, USA; Seamen's Club Welcome Bremerhaven, Germany

Drop-in Centre of the Year: The Seafarers' Welcome Centre, Chennai; and The International Drop-in Centre for Seafarers, Singapore.

Shipping Company of the Year: Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM), Cyprus; Columbus Ship Management, Germany; GasLog LNG Services Ltd, Greece; Holland America, USA; and Shell Shipping, UK.

Welfare Personality of the Year: Ms Apinya Tajit, Thailand; Reverend Dennis Claughton, Australia; Father Giacomo Martino, Italy; Joseph Chacko, India; and Reverend Noah Park, Australia

The Seafarer Centre of the Year, Port of The Year and Shipping Company of the Year were all nominated directly by seafarers. The award for Welfare Personality of the Year can be self-nominated or nominated by seafarers' organisations or individuals involved with seafarers' welfare.

The winners will be announced at a high profile awards ceremony hosted by the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation, Mr Koji Sekimizu at the International Maritime Organisation in London on Wednesday 28th November. The ceremony will be the culmination of two days of events organised by the International Committee on Seafarers' Welfare (ICSW) which includes an EGM on Tuesday 27th November and a seminar exploring the welfare aspects of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) on the morning of Wednesday 28th November.

Roger Harris, ICSW Executive Director, said: "These awards are about celebrating the work of those companies and individuals that go the extra mile to ensure the health and well-being of seafarers. 2012 has been an important year for the maritime welfare sector. In August the MLC was ratified and will come into force in 2013. The MLC will encourage the establishment of welfare boards and port welfare committees to oversee the development of seafarers' welfare services and facilities in ports. As organisations and governments around the world come together to set new standards they will be able to look towards those whose achievements have been recognised here as examples of best practice."

The judging panel for the awards is Mr Masamichi Morooka President of the International Shipping Federation and International Chamber of Shipping, Mr David Cockcroft, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation and Mr Douglas Stevenson, Chairman of the International Christian Maritime Association.

The awards are generously funded by the ITF Seafarers' Trust. The awards are also supported & endorsed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), International Shipping Federation (ISF), the Intentional Christian Maritime Association (ICMA), and Seafarer Help. International Shipping Federation (ISF) is sponsoring the Welfare Personality of the Year Award and Intermanager is sponsoring Shipping Company of the Year Award.

Further information about the awards can be found at www.seafarerswelfareawards.org.