The world’s oldest mutual P&I Club has reached out to support the work of four Bermuda maritime charities in training and educating young sailors and supporting local maritime communities.

The Britannia Group has made separate one-off donations of $75,000 to the Bermuda Maritime Academy, Bermuda Sailors’ Home, Bermuda Sloop Foundation and Endeavour.

All of them support aspiring or more experienced sailors as well as local maritime communities more generally in Bermuda.

The Britannia Group’s links to the marine reinsurance market in Bermuda go back to the 1990s when it set up a Bermuda-based reinsurance company called Boudicca, that was owned and controlled by a Bermuda Purpose Trust.

As the reinsurance market provision has evolved over the years, the Britannia Group decided in 2022 to merge Boudicca with its other reinsurance vehicle in Bermuda, USMIA.

The trust received consideration for agreeing to the merger, which was equivalent to its original seed money with the terms of the trust requiring this seed money to be distributed to local maritime charities in the event of the trust being wound up.

The Britannia Group approached the former directors of Boudicca to seek their recommendations for maritime charities in Bermuda to receive donations.

The donations were presented to representatives of the four charitable organisations by board directors of the Britannia Group at a lunch in Hamilton, last week.

“Making sizeable donations to these very deserving maritime charities is an appropriate way for the Britannia Group to demonstrate its support for their invaluable work in supporting seafarers at every stage of their careers.

“Whether it is training Bermuda’s next generation of mariners or offering recreational spaces where sailors can relax and unwind ashore, these charities perform a vital service to the maritime community,” said Andrew Cutler, CEO, the Britannia Group.

Michael Winfield, the chairman of Bermuda Maritime Academy. said: “All of us at the Bermuda Maritime Academy are sincerely grateful to the Britannia Group for this meaningful and important contribution which will be instrumental in allowing us to begin the creation of a long-term home for the academy, enabling us to provide essential marine training and certification to Bermudians.”