The Maritime Foundation announced the 2022 Maritime Media Awards winners at a reception and lunch at London’s Union Jack Club attended by a diverse representation of the maritime community.
The Awards recognise journalists, authors, filmmakers and digital creators who have raised the greatest awareness of important maritime issues over the past year.
Presented by Rear-Admiral Dr Chris Parry CBE, the 27th-annual awards included the Royal Navy’s annual presentation of the Desmond Wettern Fleet Award awarded to the HM ship, submarine, Naval Air Squadron or Royal Marine Unit that has made the best contribution to a positive image of the Royal Navy.
The Awards Ceremony commenced with a special presentation to the 2020 Babcock International First Sea Lord’s Award for Best Use of Digital Media winner, the Schmidt Ocean Institute. The prize, a ship’s bell was presented to Dr Jyotika Virmani who had been unable to attend last year’s presentation event.
HMS Defender was announced as the winner of the Desmond Wettern Fleet Award and the ship’s decanter mounted on a plinth of oak from HMS Victory was presented to Lieutenant-Commander Charlie Adlam RN by Rear-Admiral Paul Beattie RN, Director of Naval Staff who was in attendance representing the Royal Navy and the First Sea Lord.
The first of the Maritime Foundation’s own awards, the Babcock International First Sea Lord’s Award for Best Use of Digital Media was awarded to the National Oceanography Centre for their stimulating and engaging Into The Blue Podcast. Certificate of Merits were awarded to the Society for Nautical Research for The Mariner’s Mirror Podcast and the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust’s Endurance22 project.
The Mountbatten Award for Best Book was won by American author Alysha Rooks for The Black Joke: The True Story of One British Ship’s Battle Against the Slave Trade which delivers a deeper exploration of the transatlantic slave trade, with the Foundation’s judges declaring: “This is how to write a history book!”
Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel for Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World’s Most Secretive Industry, Felipe Fernández-Armesto for Straits: Beyond the Myth of Magellan, and Michael North for A World History of the Seas: From Harbour to Horizon were awarded Certificate of Merits, and Richard Endsor collected a Certificate of Merit for the best illustrated book for The Master Shipwright’s Secrets: How Charles II built the Restoration Navy.
The Donald Gosling Award for Best Television or Film Production was awarded to Alessandra Bonomolo and Tom Cook for Why Ships Crash. Produced by Windfall Films for BBC Two, the programme documented with skill and verve the complex series of events that led to the blocking of the Suez Canal in 2021 by the container ship Evergiven. Certificate of Merits were awarded to STV Studios’ producers Craig Hunter, Rosy Marshall-McCrae, Russ Leven and Heather McCorriston for Channel 4’s What Killed the Whale? presented by Ella Al-Shamahi, and Bob Marsden and October Films for the Channel 5 series Lighthouses: Building the Impossible, presented by Rob Bell.
American journalist Elizabeth Kolbert was announced as the winner of the primary award of the Maritime Media Awards, the Desmond Wettern Award for Best Journalism for her incisive and thought-provoking articles for the New Yorker on ocean acidification, pollution, over-exploitation and other maritime environmental issues. A prerecorded message and keynote address were shown to the audience.
The Awards closed with a broad outline of the Maritime Foundation’s plans announced to relaunch the Media Awards in 2024 to improve the inclusivity and accessibility of the Awards to best suit the industry of today and the future.
About the Maritime Foundation:
The Maritime Foundation promotes awareness of the UK’s dependence upon the sea and seafarers and champions the UK’s interests across the entire maritime sector at home and abroad.
About the Maritime Media Awards:
Launched in 1995, the Maritime Media Awards honour journalists, authors, filmmakers, digital creators and others whose work in the media has served to create a greater public understanding of maritime issues, and of the UK’s dependence upon the sea.
Social media:
Twitter: @MaritimeFounUK
Hashtags: #MaritimeMediaAwards2022 #MaritimeMediaAwards
Notes to editors:
- The Maritime Media Awards 2022 were held at the Union Jack Club, Sandell St, Waterloo, London SE1 8UJ on Monday, 22 May 2023 at 12:00pm.
- The Maritime Foundation’s purpose is to promote Britain’s interests across the entire maritime sector and to inform and raise public and parliamentary awareness of the importance of Britain’s maritime industries, commerce and defence through education, training and research projects.
- The Maritime Foundation established the Maritime Media Awards in 1995 in memory of Desmond Wettern, former naval correspondent of the Daily Telegraph.
- Details of past winners can be found at maritimefoundation.uk/awards/winners/
Further information about the Maritime Foundation is available at www.maritimefoundation.uk
For press enquiries please contact media@maritimefoundation.uk