We have added a new feature, ‘The Piracy Pages’, in which we hope to bring to a greater audience the subject of piracy and its devastating effects on our fellow seafarers.

We also hope to be able to update these pages regularly and have therefore posted them under the News page and before the more static of the information pages.

Copied below is a report that appeared in the March edition of our newsletter, The Cachalot. It covers the speech made at the recent Sea Pie Supper, previously reported here, by our Principal Guest, Admiral The Rt Hon The Lord West of Spithead GCB DSC ADC DUniv.

“After his induction as a Stowaway Member of the Club,  Admiral Lord West gave an informative and entertaining speech in which he spoke of his great affinity with the Fourth Service, the Merchant Navy, and his concern about the ‘sea blindness’ which is affecting the nation. A concern strong enough for him to have cause to berate the government about it from the floor of the House.
As befits an ex sea dog, amongst his own and  probably preaching to the converted, his speech was interspersed with many jokes and anecdotes unsuitable to be reproduced here. The serious message, taken from his own notes, can be found below.
Before sitting down to a standing acclamation he proposed the toast, “To the Cachalots of Southampton, may they continue and flourish for ever”.

The new Stowaway's speech was well received

In 1945 the Royal Navy had over 1,500 major combatants, including 52 aircraft carriers and several thousand aircraft. Its power and capability with that of the merchant marine had ensured the survival of our nation through the German wars in the first half of the 20 century.  In the final analysis it was our maritime capability that – as has been the case for centuries – was crucial for our national survival.   However, having fought earlier, longer and more completely than any other of the victorious powers, Britain was broke and the world order had changed.
Indeed the decline of the RN from the most powerful navy in the world had started post WWI.  Although in many ways the navy of WWII was only possible because of the huge past investment.  So in 1945 Britain embarked on the ruthless liquidation of the organisation that had been central to British identity for as long as she had been a single nation. By 1946, over 840 major warships had been scrapped and a further 727 in various stages of construction were cancelled.  By 1948 the home fleet consisted of one cruiser and a handful of destroyers and frigates.
The decline of our merchant marine really started to happen in the 60’s but the seeds had been sown much earlier as with the UK shipbuilding industry.
One has to deplore the neglect of maritime history today. To  describe the 17th, 18th and 19th century British state without mentioning the Royal and Merchant Navies is quite a feat of   intellectual virtuosity –yet it happens.   It is almost as if somebody is trying to airbrush out our maritime significance,  historically and now.  
British dominance of European waters was the longest most complex and expensive project ever undertaken by the British state. Few aspects of national life were unaffected by it.  The sea is the lifeblood of a global system that links nearly every nation – the super highway that has enabled globalisation.  More than 90 per cent of goods traded internationally are transported by sea. Last year, UK imports and exports were 55% of our GDP, a  higher percentage than almost any other nation on earth.  Over 95% by volume of that trade is carried by sea.  With container ships carrying 5,000 plus containers the price of carrying individual items is laughably small.  We live in a just-in-time economy.  Disruption would have devastating effects. The maritime sector adds over £26.5 billion and 531k jobs to our national wealth each year.
Not withstanding all this, the recent SDSR further emasculated our maritime forces to an extent that is changing Britain into a different nation by default. This sea-blindness applies to the  merchant marine as well as the Royal Navy.  
…. I believe there are real dangers of an extremely chaotic and violent world developing over the next decades fuelled by competition for energy and minerals, pressures on food and water, global imbalance of wealth and demographic pressures, religious intolerance, nuclear proliferation and so on.
In the final analysis our national survival will depend as it always has, as an island nation, on a strong maritime capability.
One example of all these pressures is piracy. Something the RN had effectively eliminated worldwide by the beginning of WWI. Just to give some idea of the scale, -23k ships each year pass through the sea area off Somalia. The cost to the shipping industry so far about £10-12bn–$274m paid in ransom—and as we speak about 10 ships and 100 seafarers held hostage.
So far 60 seafarers have been killed. With the agreement by UK government to armed guards on ships there is a great deal to be resolved and I hope the Somalia conference in London on 23 February focuses world attention on piracy and where we go from here.
Having been a bit of a prophet of doom, I remain optimistic because of the innate quality and stoicism of the British people.

Just how apposite his message was, may well be illustrated by our failure to get any part of the occasion reported in the local press. We supplied them with words and pictures, but to no avail.
That one of the largest maritime gatherings in the UK, attended by both The Lord Lieutenant and The High Sheriff of the county, along with The Mayor, (who is also the Admiral of the Port), the Head of the MCA, the Port Director and other maritime VIPs, and a Principal Guest who is not only a Lord, an Admiral and a national hero, but Chancellor of the local University and Maritime Academy to boot, can be deemed to attract such little interest as to be not worth reporting says it all really. If it is not football, ’stenders or c’lebs off the telly, then you might as well forget it!  ”

On Friday 2nd March the Daily Echo published a brief report entitled, ” City’s Master Mariners to greet royal ‘stowaway’ ” which stated;

HUNDREDS flocked to Southampton’s City Cruise Terminal in aid of charity.

More than 600 people attended Southampton Master Mariners’ Club’s Sea Pie Supper, to enjoy a night of food and entertainment.

On the night, members of the club announced that HRH The Princess Royal had become an honorary stowaway member, following in the footsteps of her father, The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.

The Historic event was first held back in 1931 and has since grown into one of the country’s largest maritime events.

Included was the group photo of the VIPs,  below.

There was no mention of Lord West or his speech on Sea-Blindness, which would just seem to illustrate his point.

Some very interesting information to be found at the following link, which appears to be safe.

http://news.qps.nl.s3.amazonaws.com/Grounding+Costa+Concordia.wmv