COUNTY NEWS: Photo competition to celebrate Sussex coast

Launched to mark national Seafarers Awareness Week, which runs until June 30, the competition, sponsored by Inmarsat, encourages amateur and professional photographers to enter pictures which best encapsulate Britain’s enduring connection with the sea - its merchant ships, fishermen, coast, harbours and ports.

The society, now in its 178th year, is on the lookout for images covering all aspects of the UK’s relationship with the sea including ships and wrecks, seascapes, industry and leisure.

Photographs should be submitted through the society’s website www.shipwreckedmariners.org.uk before the deadline on Friday, August 4.

Photographers can also enter their pictures via email, post or the society’s social media channels.

The competition will be judged by a panel of experts, including Sunday Times picture editor, Ray Wells, Amateur Photographer Magazine features writer, Oliver Atwell, picture editor of the i, Sophie Batterbury and the chief executive of the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, Commodore Malcolm Williams.

He said: “Britain’s longstanding connection with, and ongoing reliance on the sea should be celebrated. Our strong maritime industry continues to make a huge contribution to communities up and down the country and this competition allows us to recognise this enduring element of British life.

“The competition has gone from strength to strength over the last four years, seeing a record number of entries in 2016, and we are excited to see that trend continue. Our competition allows us to showcase the very best of the sea and celebrate the wealth of talented photographers across the UK.”

The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provides financial assistance to fishermen, mariners and their dependants who are suffering hardship, whether due to accident, ill health, unemployment or in retirement after a life spent working at sea.

In the last year the charity received 560 new applications for assistance and distributed £1.4 million in more than 2,000 cases of need.

Commodore Williams said: “There is no more appropriate time to launch our competition than during Seafarers Awareness Week. Our maritime industry is too often taken for granted – out of sight and out of mind – and we should honour the hard work of those who provide for the country.

“The UK relies on merchant shipping for around 95 per cent of its imports and 75 per cent of exports and the maritime sector is a major employer in our country.

“With an estimated 80 per cent of UK households consuming seafood each month, seafarers also play a crucial role in putting food on our tables, facing tough and sometimes hazardous conditions in doing so.”

To enter the competition, for full terms and conditions and for more information about the work of the society, visit www.shipwreckedmariners.org.uk.

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