The pandemic turned a spotlight on the often hidden problem of crew welfare. Seafarers are key workers was the phrase and now it would seem the superyacht industry is also very much engaged in the problems facing crew members.

In the second REG Superyacht Forum podcast, we pick up on issues raised in the main session around crew welfare led by members of the Red Ensign Group.

While the UK and Red Ensign Group continues to lead and aid finding solutions for decarbonisation in the merchant shipping sector, the yachting industry is more complex in which way it may go.

We've brought together three members of the REG during the Superyacht Forum in Amsterdam to discuss the issue. 

With the International Maritime Organization’s Member State mandatory audit of the REG members expected before the end of this year, the Red Ensign Group is concentrating on making sure it's ready for the event.

This week's Technical Forum has looked at the work being done by the REG to be ready for it and to ensure that the result of the audit shows the REG’s continued leadership on maritime matters.

Richard Pellew and Greg Evans, the co-chairs of the Technical Forum explore what it means for the group in this latest podcast.

From helping to get crews home to providing seafarers with a welfare app, the Red Ensign Group continues to keep driving forward care of those who work at sea.

Many of those working within the group which is made up of the 13 British Shipping Registries, have worked at sea for months on end themselves so bring a real understanding of how life can be for seafarers to their roles.

We've brought together five of those people - James Hatcher from the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry, James Robba from Gibraltar Maritime Administration, David Gooberman from the Isle of Man Ship Registry  and Richard Pellew and Ian Blair from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in the UK.

If 2020 was the year that the world saw how much it relies on the work of seafarers behind the scenes, then will 2021 see more of that understanding turned into action?

As the first part of the ISWAN (International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network) Social Interaction Matters is published - a report based on research with the seafarers themselves, it once again reminds all of us the benefits of regular social interaction on board and what obstacles there are that need to be overcome.

Our latest podcast explores all these themes with input from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, ISWAN and the co-chair of the REG Conference.

It brought together maritime expertise from across the world and represents some of the highest standards in the world when it comes to the yachting industry. The Red Ensign Group Yacht Code was published early in January 2019 and continues to be the go-to document for the industry.

It's reviewed on a regular basis and we've brought together three of those whose expertise goes into the REG Yacht Code to talk about latest changes and why the Code continues to matter and dominate the maritime world.

This has been the year when we've really understood the vital importance of our maritime workers.

Seafarers have been the lifeblood of maritime, keeping global trade moving including vital supplies like food and medicines.

But it's also been the year when we've seen at first hand the challenges that some of these seafarers face in terms of their welfare.

This week, another group of seafarers, the technical experts of the Red Ensign Group have - once again- taken up the cudgel on behalf of the wider industry.

We've been talking to the co-chairs of the REG Technical Forum, themselves no strangers to working at sea...

Shipwrecks are littered around many coastlines of the world including those of the Falkland Islands. The law of finders keepers doesn't exist - but it's how that can be enforced and also how to work with communities to preserve heritage as well as making sure items are reunited with their rightful owners.

The Red Ensign Group prides itself on the skills scattered across its membership and - more importantly - how that expertise can be shared across the group. And in this case, it means the Falkland Islands maritime team has been able to tap into the experience of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and specifically, its Receiver of Wreck who oversees shipwrecks and the items that wash up on UK shores.

Some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world can be found within the Overseas Territories. With that beauty though, comes a responsibility, a responsibility to care for it and protect it.

Bermuda is one of those places where work has been carried out supported by the UK Government's Conflict Stability and Security Fund. Administered by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the project supports and shares expertise across the whole Red Ensign Group area.

In the latest Red Ensign Group podcast, we have brought together two of those in Bermuda who are responsible for that work, along with the CSSF programme officer who has worked alongside them.

Like everyone else, members of the Red Ensign Group have met with challenges because of COVID-19. Like everyone else, they've worked to find solutions to those challenges and above all to protect the lifeblood of maritime, the seafarers.

Katy Ware, Director of Maritime Safety and Standards at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the UK's permanent representative to the International Maritime Organization, Cameron Mitchell, Director of the Isle of Man Ship Registry, Chris Boreham, Senior Marine Surveyor, Bermuda Shipping - Maritime Authority and Greg Evans, Global Director, Cayman Islands Shipping Registry have been talking about the challenges and how they met them.

The work of the Conflict Stability and Security Fund may not be something that you immediately know of, but it is there quietly making a difference to coastal safety and prevention work across the Overseas Territories.

Funded by the UK Government and in this aspect, managed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, CSSF work brings the Overseas Territories together to share expertise and training, provide equipment where required and above all support all those in the OTs who have the oversight of what it means to be responsible for your coast.

From Bermuda to the Falkland Islands, from Monserrat to St Helena, the work covers a wide spectrum. We've brought together three people from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to talk about what it means, what it does and what difference it makes.