International Day of the Seafarer is celebrated annually on June 25 to acknowledge and appreciate the contribution of seafarers to worldwide commerce.

Celebrated for the first time in 2011, the day gives people an opportunity to pay tribute to 1.5 million seafarers around the world, who are working relentlessly to ensure the smooth flow of trade via water.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) uses this day to spread awareness about the lives of seafarers and highlight the health and safety issues they face.

The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Seafarers: at the core of shipping’s future,’ which aims at increasing the visibility of seafarers by drawing the attention of the general public to the role they are playing in the economic system.

On this day, here are a few inspirational quotes on sailing, courtesy Navigate Content and Martide -

  • "We are United States Marines, and for two and a quarter centuries we have defined the standards of courage, esprit, and military prowess." - Gen. James L. Jones
  • "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." - Ronald Reagan​
  • "He is the best sailor who can steer within fewest points of the wind, and exact a motive power out of the greatest obstacles." - Sir Walter Scott
  • “Take charge of your life! The tides do not command the ship. The sailor does." - Ogwo David Emenike
  • "A sailor is not defined as much by how many seas he has sailed than by how many storms he has overcome."- Matshona Dhliwayo
  • "A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind. Live passionately, even if it kills you, because something is going to kill you anyway." - Webb Chiles
  • "Confronting a storm is like fighting God. All the powers in the universe seem to be against you and, in an extraordinary way, your irrelevance is at the same time both humbling and exalting." - Francis LeGrande
  • "Sailors, with their built-in sense of order, service and discipline, should really be running the world." - Nicholas Monsarrat
  • "Sometimes when you are sailing you have periods of heavy waves with breaks of calm smooth waters. We had zero breaks from the heavy waves. They just kept coming." - Michelle Segrest
A Philippine coast guard ship sails past a Chinese coast guard ship near Scarborough shoal in the South China Sea in May 2019
A file picture of a Philippine coast guard ship sailing past a Chinese coast guard ship near Scarborough shoal in the South China Sea AFP / TED ALJIBE
RELATED STORIES