We're absolutely delighted and thankful that our Teesport ship visiting team, led by port chaplain Peter Barrigan, has won the Shoreside Team of the Year Award the Safety at Sea Awards organised by IHS Markit held in London on September 10.
The win is a great testimony to the good work that Peter and his team – as well as all our other Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea) port chaplains, ship visitors and volunteers – do. Congratulations to them and all the winners. The full list of winner can be found at https://www.sasawards.com/winners
Press release
The Stella Maris team from Tees and Hartlepool picked up the Shoreside Team of the Year Award at the annual IHS Markit Safety at Sea Awards held during the London International Shipping Week on September 10.
They saw off competition from other global maritime companies, charities and organisations, who gathered in London to pay tribute to extraordinary achievements in maritime safety and crew wellbeing.
The Stella Maris team comprises ship visitors and volunteers Tees and Hartlepool led by port chaplain Deacon Peter Barrigan, who accepted the award that night.
Peter said, “On the one hand I was surprised that our team was singled out for this award. Yet our Stella Maris teams around Great Britain and the world make a huge difference to seafarers’ lives. They’ve become trusted friends to many seafarers who arrive in ports,” Peter said.
It is precisely this trust and friendship gained by North Tees husband and wife ship visitors – Hugh and Mary Ward – that resulted in Stella Maris assisting a seafarer whose wife had given birth to premature triplets in the Philippines.
The babies needed urgent medical care, but the family were unable to access free healthcare, and this led to thousands of pounds being racked-up in hospital bills.
Hugh and Mary’s intervention led to Stella Maris raising funds to pay off the family’s outstanding debt. Their support made a tangible difference to their lives and the triplets are now healthy toddlers.
Stella Maris has a very special place in the hearts of the seafarer and his family and Hugh and Mary are in constant contact with the family even till this day.
“Every time we speak to them, they can’t thank us and Stella Maris enough for being there in their time of desperate need,” Mary says.
The AoS Teesport team.
Deacon Peter Barrigan with the Award seen here with host Colin Murray and Katie Higginbottom,
Head of ITF Seafarers’ Trust.
Deacon Peter with (from left): Ian Stokes (AoS Head of Corporate Engagement), Robert Ashdown (AoS Trustee), Dr Esteban Pacha (AoS Chair of Trustees) and Martin Foley (AoS National Director).
Here's a video of our Tees team in action.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5QpdYfwDL0]