Workboat champion receives MBE
A highly respected marine surveyor and the founder of the National Workboat Association (NWA) has been awarded an MBE for ‘Services to UK Shipping’.
Following the Lifetime Achievement award presented to Norman Finlay at Seawork in 2013, the MBE is further recognition of Mr Finlay’s long illustrious career dedicated to the maritime and workboat industries.
“Norman has been the ideal tutor for me as I learned the details of this vibrant, growing sector of the Merchant Navy, and is a constant inspiration,” said Mark Ranson, current secretary of the NWA.
“It is one of his hallmarks that – no matter how busy he is – he will always make time for anyone with a query or potential problem on any aspect of Workboat operations. The workboat industry owes Norman an enormous debt and I am delighted to see this recognition of his continuing work.”
Illustrious career
Following a career at sea and then as Superintendent of a dredger fleet, Mr Finlay became involved with workboats early in his career and went on to become one of the main driving forces behind the development of the UK Workboat sector of the Merchant Navy in the 1970s.
He has continued to work in the industry ever since and was the key player in the development of the original Workboat Code with the MCA in the early 1990s.
Mr Finlay’s founded the NWA in 1994 by persuading key workboat operators that they should join forces and work with the MCA to develop appropriate standards, subsequently serving as the Association’s unpaid secretary and spokesperson for almost ten years.
By Anne-Marie Causer
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