Shipwrecked Mariner's Society

What Shipwrecked Mariner's Society does

The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society (legally "Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Royal Benevolent Society") is a UK registered charity (Charity No. 212034) founded in 1839 and incorporated by Royal Assent in 1850, headquartered in Chichester, West Sussex with a 9-person staff. It provides financial and practical support to serving and retired merchant seafarers, fishermen, and their dependants experiencing hardship from debt, illness, disability, unemployment, or retirement. Core products include six grant types (Biannual, Death Benefit, Immediate, One-Off, Funeral, and Shipwreck Assistance), practical support via a UK-wide network of volunteer Honorary Agents, a partner-provided benefits calculator (Turn2Us), an annual photography competition, charity cards and gift retail, the annual Seafarers Support Week campaign, and a newly introduced Household Appliance Fund. Underlying technology is minimal — a WordPress website, basic grant-processing workflows, and a CAF Donate donation platform; there is no proprietary technology platform or AI/ML capability.

The Society is funded entirely through voluntary income: public donations, legacy bequests, fundraising events, Christmas card and gift sales, and occasional institutional grants (notably £30,000 from The Merchant Navy Fund in 2016). Its geographic scope is limited to the UK and Ireland. In the most recent year, it disbursed approximately £1.3 million across over 1,700 cases, with 1,200 regular beneficiaries receiving £988 per year via biannual grants and roughly 500 new applications processed. The organization is governed by a Board of Trustees with HRH The Princess Royal as Patron and Captain Justin Osmond RN as Chief Executive. Strategic partnerships include Seafarers UK, Trinity House, Cranfield Trust, Turn2Us, and The Merchant Navy Fund as supporting or funding organizations.

Name

Shipwrecked Mariner's Society

Legal name

Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Royal Benevolent Society

Website

https://shipwreckedmariners.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1839

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society is a UK registered charity founded in 1839 that provides financial grants and practical support to serving and retired merchant seafarers, fishermen, and their dependants in financial hardship, distributing approximately £1.3-1.4 million annually across 1,700-2,250 cases in the UK and Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chichester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The charity relies on public donations, legacy bequests, and fundraising activities including Christmas card sales and events to fund its grant-making operations. No commercial revenue generation.
2. Charitable Grants: Provides financial grants to retired seafarers, fishermen, and dependants experiencing hardship due to debt, illness, disability, unemployment or retirement. Annual grant expenditure of approximately £1.3-1.4 million across 1,700-2,000+ cases.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society is a UK-registered charity that provides financial grants and practical support to serving and retired merchant seafarers, fishermen, and their dependants who are in financial need due to debt, illness, disability, unemployment, or retirement. Annual grant expenditure is approximately £1.3–1.4 million across 1,700–2,250+ cases of need, funded entirely by public donations, legacies, and fundraising activities such as the sale of charity Christmas cards and greetings cards.

Product overview

The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society operates as a single unified charitable organization offering financial and practical support to merchant seafarers, fishermen, and their dependants. The core offerings include six types of grants (Biannual, Death Benefit, Immediate, One-Off, Funeral, and Shipwreck Assistance), practical support through volunteer Honorary Agents, a benefits calculator in partnership with Turn2Us, an annual photography competition, and charity cards and gifts for fundraising. The Society runs an annual Seafarers Support Week campaign and has recently introduced a Household Appliance Fund. No platform-plus-modules architecture exists—the organization provides direct charitable services rather than a technology product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Biannual Grant
• Death Benefit Grant
• Immediate Grant
• One-Off Grant
• Funeral Grant
• Shipwreck Assistance
• Practical Support Services
• Benefits Calculator
• Charity Cards and Gifts

Quantifiable outcome

• £1.3 million in grants paid to over 1,700 individuals in need (most recent year)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Seafarers UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeafarers UK is a supporting organization of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, providing endorsement and partnership in maritime welfare initiatives.
• Trinity HousecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrinity House is a supporting organization of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, providing partnership for maritime charitable work.
• Cranfield TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting organization providing partnership towards the charity's journey to excellence.
• Turn2UsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization providing welfare benefits calculator tool to help seafarers check their entitlements to state benefits.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sailors' Society: Sailors' Society is an international maritime welfare charity supporting seafarers and their families with education, health and welfare programmes. Comparable in mission and beneficiary population, though operating globally rather than UK/Ireland only.
• Fishermen's Mission: The Fishermen's Mission (formerly Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen) directly serves UK fishermen and their families in financial hardship — overlapping precisely with the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society's fishermen and dependants beneficiary segment.
• Mission to Seafarers: Mission to Seafarers is a global Anglican charity providing welfare support to merchant seafarers across port cities. It targets the same merchant seafarer constituency as the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society but with a more port-visitation focus.
• Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea): Stella Maris is a Catholic maritime charity providing practical and pastoral welfare support to seafarers in UK and international ports. Direct peer serving the same merchant seafarer beneficiary base via chaplaincy-led support.

Broad incumbents

• Seafarers UK: Seafarers UK is a larger, central maritime welfare charity that supports the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society as a member organisation. It funds and coordinates across multiple maritime charities, making it a broader incumbent in the same UK seafarer welfare space.
• Trinity House: Trinity House is a General Lighthouse Authority and major maritime charitable institution that is listed as a supporting organisation of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society. It serves overlapping seafarer welfare objectives but at much greater scale.
• Merchant Navy Welfare Board: The Merchant Navy Welfare Board funds and coordinates welfare services for merchant seafarers and their dependants in the UK. It overlaps with the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society's beneficiary segments and partners with similar maritime welfare charities.

Emerging players

• Seafarers' Welfare Board / ISWAN: ISWAN (International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network) coordinates welfare services for seafarers globally and acts as an umbrella body for maritime welfare charities. It is adjacent to the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society in coordinating seafarer welfare delivery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ShipwreckedSoc
• Facebookfacebook.com/shipwreckedmariners
• Instagraminstagram.com/shipwreckedmariners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shipwrecked-mariner's-society

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shipwrecked Mariner's Society