With this year’s World Maritime Day taking place on September 30, the IMO has been responsible for choosing this year’s theme which is “Seafarers: At the Core of Shipping’s Future”.
As with every year, the focus of World Maritime Day is to increase awareness of the invaluable work that seafarers do to keep the worldwide economy afloat.
To mark this day and the vital role of seafarers globally, we talk to our own –Business Developer - François Abiven – who in 2011 established Les Apéritifs De La Mer – a social network of Merchant Marine Officers that has grown from its inaugural get together of 15 people in Paris to now having over 2,000 members around the World.
Q/ Can you Tell Us More About the network you have created?
Les Apéritifs de la Mer is a relaxed and informal network of Merchant Marine Officers –whether they are at sea, on land, retired or now working in other sectors, who can keep in contact and where possible meet up. We share ideas and thoughts, keep in touch, network in person and over digital platforms, run events and share wider employment opportunities.
Q/ How did it start?
Before joining Lubmarine, I was myself a Merchant Marine Officer and I discovered that my own network of Merchant Marine Officers was helpful for my commercial role here in terms of an information resource and that was the seed of the idea for creating a wider network. It was also borne from a wider understanding – that sailors are very often disconnected from their network systems – whether they are on land or at sea –and can get easily ‘out of touch’ with their community. So the idea was to create Les Apéritifs de la Mer to establish a network of Merchant Marine Officers who could help each other, keep in contact, share stories, experiences and opportunities and just enjoy the social aspect of getting together. We organized the first meeting in Paris in April 2010 and had around 15-20 people attend – which we were pleased about at that time.
Q/ Has the network grown since then?
Absolutely – from those early days, we quickly started to welcome new members and have events in wider locations – initially in France in locations including Marseille and Le Havre. And as popularity of the group and the events grew, so too did the geographical spread and we started organizing meetings in Singapore and Tokyo. We also organize online events for those who are at sea or unable to get to physical events. Today I am very pleased to say that we now have well over 2,000 members right around the world.
Q/ What is the general approach?
Our group remains today as it did back in 2011 – as a relaxed, social group of people with a common background. For some this is a great place to share job and employment opportunities - which has proven really useful - and for others it is the chance to keep in touch (whether on land or sea) with counterparts past and present. It is also a place to share thoughts on latest developments in this area of industry – technical and professional - and ask questions and opinions and gain insights from peers. It enables us to have diverse conversations across the membership – from the funny to the serious and create positive networks. The more people that are talking and sharing the better it works. Above all it’s a friendship group.
5) Is the group open for any Merchant Marine Officers to join?
Absolutely – we welcome people to make contact with us and join. It is an informal group and there for Merchant Marine Officers to be as active or otherwise as they want to be within it.
Anyone interested in joining can contact François on LinkedIn.