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07/10/2026

Today, on World Day for Decent Work, we’re celebrating 20 years of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) – a landmark framework that has helped strengthen rights and improve working and living conditions for seafarers around the world.

From fair treatment and safe working conditions to repatriation, food, healthcare and social connectivity, the MLC has delivered real improvements for seafarers.

But decent work doesn’t happen automatically. It takes workers organising, unions fighting for stronger standards and ensuring that the voices of working people are heard.

With the MLC, Nautilus members and our friends around the world helped to achieve this. As we look to the future, we need to make sure the next generation of workers and seafarers receive the decent pay, secure employment, safety and respect they deserve.

Read our MLC 20th anniversary report [available at: nautilusfederation.org/resource/20-years-mlc] and discover what has been achieved and why strong seafarer representation and continuous improvement of the MLC remains essential.

02/10/2026

Your September maritime updates have just dropped!

Head to our YouTube channel to watch the full episode.

25/09/2026

We were delighted to welcome HRH The Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, back to Mariners' Park for a tour of our retirement living and dementia care facilities.

This wasn't his first visit — he previously opened the Seafarers' Charity Centenary Wing here. It was wonderful to host him again and show him how the site has grown since.
Huge thanks to the Seafarers' Charity, whose support made possible the new Nautilus House build — now home to our head office — and to all the sponsors and partners who've backed Mariners' Park over the years. 🙏⚓

15/09/2026

Conversations matter

Paul Novak, General Secretary of the TUC, stopped by the Nautilus International stand at Congress in Brighton this week.

He spent time hearing directly from our team about life at sea for Nautilus members – including the realities of fatigue, long working hours, and vessel safety.

Thanks to Paul for taking the time to speak with our staff, Laura Hesketh, John Coppell and Sarah Haughey.

Conversations like these matter. They help keep seafarers' working conditions on the wider trade union agenda.

Image credit: Jess Hurd

14/09/2026

We’re at TUC Congress in Brighton!
Nautilus International is at TUC Congress in Brighton all week, running from Sunday through to Wednesday. Come and visit us on the ground floor, where our popular ship’s cabin is back on our stand.
Drop by to take our safety test and find out what life at sea is really like, plus all the support and representation a trade union can offer you.
Our General Secretary, Sascha Meijer, is at Congress with the Nautilus staff team. We’ve also got two motions going to Congress, which we expect to be heard tomorrow.
Come and say hello!

06/09/2026

Powerful Merchant Navy Day service today at the national Merchant Navy Memorial on Tower Hill in London. After hymns such as Eternal Father, Strong to Save, and readings from dignitaries including maritime minister Keir Mather, wreaths were laid to honour lost comrades. Deputy general secretary Olu Tunde laid Nautilus International's wreath.

04/09/2026

Great to see this in a London borough. Seafarers matter inland too! The Seafarers’ Charity

03/09/2026

Nautilus International has marked the UK's annual Merchant Navy Day by joining commemorative events across the UK that raise the Red Ensign and honour those who have served at sea, past and present.

Union members and staff joined flag-raising ceremonies and memorial services across the country on 3 September, recognising the crucial role merchant seafarers play in keeping global trade moving and economies connected – whether in times of peace or war.

At Nautilus Mariners' Park in Merseyside, the annual Merchant Navy Day ceremony was held at the Atlantic Stone outside the Trinity House Hub. Wreaths were laid and the Red Ensign was raised in tribute to merchant seafarers past and present. The war service of radio officers was highlighted this year, with a member of Mariners' Park's radio society laying a special wreath.

Elsewhere, a commemorative event at the Dover Merchant Navy Memorial saw the Union represented by Nautilus staff member June Cattini-Walker and former Council member Tony Minns.

In Elston, Nottinghamshire, Nautilus Welfare Fund committee member Captain James Hofton oversaw the raising of the Red Ensign for the 11th consecutive year, continuing a tradition he has maintained as the village's only seafarer.

And Nautilus Council member Allan Dickson attended the fourth annual remembrance service organised by the Merchant Navy Association's Edinburgh & Forth Branch.

Commemorations will continue in London at the weekend, where Nautilus deputy general secretary Olu Tunde will be laying the Union's wreath at the national Merchant Navy Memorial on Tower Hill, accompanied by other staff and members.

27/07/2026

Your July maritime news is out today! Head to our YouTube channel to watch the full show.

Address

Nautilus International, ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road
London
SE11DR

Website

http://www.nautilusint.org/

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