KINGSTON, ON – The International Ship Masters’ Association (ISMA) president, Captain Chris Edyvean, announced this week that the ISMA will be holding an organizational meeting on May 13 at 7 p.m. at the Riverhead Brewery, 23 Fortune Cres., to see if there is enough interest in Kingston for a new lodge.
“Kingston is a natural place for a new ISMA Lodge because the area has a multitude of licensed maritime personnel, major suppliers to the maritime industry, as well as countless companies, organizations, and personnel who depend on the maritime industry for their livelihood,” said Thomas Foster, ISMA Grand Lodge secretary and treasurer. “All this talent can only enhance the work being done by all the lodges through out the Great Lakes and the ISMA Grand Lodge”.
Kingston would be the fourth Canadian city to have a ISMA lodge, joining to Owen Sound, Niagara and Thunder Bay.
The ISMA is an association focused on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, with members who are “voluntary dues-paying licensed professional mariners and others associated” with a connection to the maritime community along the waterway. According to the organization’s website, it was “founded in 1886 as a benevolent organization, the ISMA has adapted needs along the way to provide educational opportunities and to allow Great Lakes masters a voice in the formation of safety and navigational rules and regulations.” There are 16 active ISMA Lodges around the Great Lakes, throughout the U.S. and Canada, with 650 members who both work and advocate for the waters and communities they’re based. The ISMA works to “help create a safer and more informed waterway system.”
“Some of the best opportunities for employment, career development, and job security can be found in the maritime industry,” Foster added.
As well, it supports sea cadets and other high school maritime programs and works with both the Canadian and U.S. governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) surrounding issues of navigational safety, safety on ships, and ice camera installations.
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