Award Presentation to Revd Peter Paine 

23rd September 2019


 
Great Yarmouth's Port Chaplain, Revd Peter Paine, has been presented with the prestigious Award for Services to Seafarers' Welfare 2019 by the Merchant Navy Welfare Board (MNWB)
 

The award was presented by MNWB CEO, Peter Tomlin, and MNWB Chairman, Captain Andrew Cassels.  Peter Tomlin said:

"Revd Peter Paine is an extremely active Port Chaplain in Great Yarmouth, and is seen by many as the driving force behind Great Yarmouth Seafarers’ Centre"

 
Peter was instrumental in providing support to the crew of the Indian flagged Merchant Navy vessel Malaviya Twenty, which was detained in Great Yarmouth in June 2016, over unpaid port fees and crew wages.
 
During the two years and three months that the ship was detained in Great Yarmouth, Peter became the focal point between the various organisations providing aid and support, and in his quiet and efficient manner, ensured that the crew received every assistance available, including the essential spiritual, emotional, and financial support.  He coordinated the Great Yarmouth Seafarers Centre’s volunteers, and members of the local community, ensuring the crew received much-valued donations and gifts.  He also facilitated frequent shopping trips, meals, and days out to local events in the town  
 
Following the release of the Malaviya Twenty and the repatriation of the crew, Peter dedicated a considerable amount of his time and effort into organising and hosting a ‘debriefing meeting’ between local maritime stakeholders and welfare organisations, in an effort to formulate a process to follow, should a similar situation occur in the future
 
In addition to his work as a Port Chaplain, Peter has been instrumental in the ongoing success of the MWNB East Anglia Port Welfare Committee.  Having first joined the PWC in 2001, he was elected Vice Chairman in 2006, and then Chairman of the PWC in 2008.  During his 11 years as Chairman, he has shown outstanding dedication and commitment to the PWC, which at one point, was at risk of dissolution due to lack of numbers
 
A local contact credited Peter as being “without doubt, the most dedicated volunteer within the maritime world that I have ever had the privilege to meet and work with” "

When Rev Peter informed the board of the Great Yarmouth Seafarers Centre, he very humbly told then that "without the volunteers he is nothing"