Cape Town - The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has generously donated a 4.7m Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) to the Lawhill Maritime Educational Trust (LMET), that was officially launched in a boat naming ceremony, in Simon’s Town.
The boat will be based at the False Bay Yacht Club and used to enhance the skills of maritime students, from the Lawhill Maritime Centre, at Simon's Town School (STS), participating in the NSRI’s Personal Survival Training course, and delivered in association with the South African Training Ship (SATS) and the General Botha Old Boys’ Bursary Fund.
NSRI chief executive Cleeve Robertson congratulated LMET on receiving the vessel and expressed the tragic story of how the boat was originally donated to the NSRI by a family that had lost their son, along with two other teenagers at sea.
The boat was named “Sean Day”, in honour of the massive contributions he made towards maritime education in the country, and at the STS Lawhill Maritime Centre by this international maritime leader.
Day is currently the director at Teekay Corporation, which specialised in marine energy in the USA and funded construction of the STS Lawhill Maritime Centre. He watched the naming ceremony over Zoom, while his godson Sebastian Hamsher unveiled the name and blessed the boat at False Bay.
“The boat we launched today may be small in size, but it's huge in its message to young seafarers – that life on the water is to be respected, with safety being the common focus,” said General Botha Old Boys’ Association Bursary Fund and SATS chairperson Simon Pearson.
LMET representative Dave Murray thanked Day for his contribution towards LMET, the maritime education at Simon’s Town School (STS), and throughout SA.
At the ceremony, STS Lawhill Maritime Centre scholar Luyanda Dlamini said she had the privilege of attending NSRI camps and training aboard the vessel, which was a key factor in training her to be the best among seafarers over the past two years, which resulted in her receiving the Sean Day scholarship at the beginning of the year.
Day said education of the next generation was important and believed there would be great opportunities in the maritime industry, for all of the bright students at Lawhill.
Cape Argus