The Merchant Navy Association Boat Club would welcome new associate members with an interest in contribution to our WaterWatch initiative whether they prefer to participate whist on the water or from the shore - or indeed both! You can find out more from the contacts below or by going to www.seafarersafloat.com. or www,MNA.org.uk
Commodore: Clive Edwards, 19 Horsford Street, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 8UH
Tel 01305 781725, email commodore@seafarersafloat.uk
Merchant Navy Association Boat Club to launch “WaterWatch”
Following the formation of the partnership between the Merchant Navy Association (MNA) and the RNLI last autumn to promote the RNLI#s Respect the Water Campaign on the UK’s inland waterways the RNLI has recently re-branded its former Community Safety operations as “Water Safety”
For some years the MNA Boat Club has operated a scheme to promote maritime safety under the brand name “SeaVue” whereby Boat Club members undertake to act as watchkeepers afloat to “Spot, Plot, and Report” incidents, potential incidents and hazards whenever they go afloat and to alert the Coastguard accordingly, in a manner very similar to the National Coastwatch (NCI) operating from their fifty or more look-outs around the coast
Given the involvement the MNA Boat Club now has with the RNLI in respect of promoting the Respect the Water campaign on inland waterways the Boat Club is now in the process of launching its “MNA WaterWatch” scheme whereby MNA Boat Club members will undertake the same “Spot, Plot and Report” activities in respect of the UK’s inland waterways, including rivers, canals, lakes and the Broads. Initially the MNA WaterWatch scheme will be launched as a “pilot scheme” in their East Anglian region
The MNA’s WaterWatch members will operate both from their own boats and/or from ashore by means of ad-hoc patrols and will of course report to the relevant waterway authority rather than to HM Coastguard unless the incident is in an area such as a major tidal river or estuary. In some cases it may also be appropriate to report incidents to the Nautical Institute’s Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting scheme known as CHIRP
The new MNA WaterWatch scheme is now featured on the www.seafarersafloat.com website where details of the MNA Boat Club’s various other activities are also to be found
For further information contact Clive Edwards on 01305 781725 or email commodore@seafarersafloat.com or Steve Walker (MNA Boat Club East Anglian regional Chairman) on 07769 725434, email wavewalker@btinternet.com
Clive Edwards, 28th May 2020
Press Release May 2020 WaterWatch.doc