Media Awards Judging Committee
The Judging Committee are vital to the running of the Media Awards and is made up of eminent maritime personalities.
Julian Parker OBE
Chairman
Julian Parker joined the Blue Funnel Line as a Midshipman in 1958. He gained his Master Mariner’s Certificate in 1967 and a BSc in Nautical Science in 1970. Following further study he was appointed Group Training Manager of the Ocean Group a year later. In 1973 he was appointed Secretary of the newly formed Nautical Institute, a post which he held for thirty years before taking partial retirement and taking on the responsibility of director of publishing. Julian retired in 2008 and was awarded an OBE for services to shipping in 2001.
Captain Andy Aspden RN
Biography to follow.
Julian Bray
Biography to follow.
Sarah Fletcher
Sarah Fletcher has been Managing Editor of Navy News, the official newspaper of the Royal Navy, since 2005. She has worked in Navy PR for 15 years and has been an MOD press officer since 1993. She started her career as a journalist in Yorkshire, where she worked on newspapers for five years, before moving to Yorkshire Television, where she worked on news programmes and regional documentaries for five years before joining the MOD.
David Gosling
Biography to follow.
Michael Grey MBE
Lloyd’s List
Michael Grey is a columnist and correspondent and has been associated with the maritime industry for the whole of his working life, joining his first ship in 1956 in what is now the car park for London City Airport. At sea for twelve years with the Port Line of London and the holder of a British Foreign Going Master’s certificate, he came ashore to work in the safety and technical department of the UK Chamber of Shipping, before moving into maritime journalism. He has been Technical Editor of Shipbuilding and Shipping Record, Editor of both Fairplay International Shipping Weekly and Lloyd’s List, where he continues to write a twice-weekly column. He is the London Correspondent of BIMCO and contributes to a large number of maritime publications around the world. He is the author of a number of maritime books and broadcasts on shipping matters. He is a Fellow of the Nautical Institute, an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology and a Companion of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. He lectures at the World Maritime University and the Greenwich Maritime Institute. He was made MBE in the Millennium Honours for services to maritime safety and was awarded the Merchant Navy Medal in 2008.
Nicolette Jones
Nicolette Jones is the author of The Plimsoll Sensation: The Great Campaign to Save Lives at Sea, published in paperback on 3 May 2007 (Abacus). The Plimsoll Sensation was the Radio 4 Book of the Week for 3-7 July 2006, and won the 2006 Mountbatten Maritime Prize and the International Division of the 2007 US Maritime Literature Awards.
Kathy Mansfield
Kathy Mansfield sails in Scotland, photographs in Europe, America and beyond, and writes for magazines such as Watercraft, Country Life, Classic Boat in the UK; Cruising World and WoodenBoat in the U.S; plus magazines in France and Italy. Her photographs have been used as book and magazine covers, in exhibitions and posters.
Martin Muncaster
Martin Muncaster became the best-known face in the South of England when he hosted BBC South’s nightly news television magazine programme show South Today. He was then posted to London to join the team of BBC Radio 4 newsreaders and presenters, and for a decade worked on the news and a wide range of current affairs and music programmes. Since then he’s been a busy free-lance writer and broadcaster, presented documentaries and features on radio and television, and on video for industry and commerce. His particular interests are in the countryside (he was a regular contributor to Radio 4′s famous Countryside programme), sailing, maritime matters and communication.
Professor Sarah Palmer
Sarah Palmer is Professor of Maritime History and Director of the Greenwich Maritime Institute, University of Greenwich. An economic historian, she was formerly Head of History at Queen Mary College, University of London. Author of Politics, Shipping and the Repeal of the Navigation Laws (MUP, 1990).
Stephen Riley
Biography to follow.
Rob White
Rob White is a well known figure in broadcasting firstly at the BBC and then for over 20 years at ITN where he was part of the production team reporting from around the globe covering major news stories such as the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Rawandan Massacre and 9/11. He was in particular an award winning producer in scientific news and has worked with all the major names in British Television news. Rob now freelances in all forms of production.
Rear Admiral Philip Wilcocks CB DSC
Retiring in 2009 after 37 years service, he was one of the RN’s most experienced operational Commanders. His last appointment was Chief of Staff at the Navy’s Headquarters and also head of the RN surface ships from aircraft carriers to patrol vessels. As Deputy Chief of Joint Operations, he was responsible for supporting UK operations overseas. He fought in HMS Ambuscade during the Falklands War and commanded the destroyer HMS Gloucester (decommissions later this month) in the first Gulf War when his ship destroyed an Iraqi silkworm missile, sank 7 enemy ships and survived 2 mine attacks – following this operation he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Gemma Wilkie
UK Chamber of Shipping
Gemma Wilkie is the Public Relations Manager at the UK Chamber of Shipping and is responsible for the Chamber’s press office and media strategy, web strategy going forward and related events and member communications.
Captain Richard Woodman
Captain Richard Woodman went to sea professionally aged 16 as a midshipman for the Blue Funnel and Glen liners of Alfred Holt & Co of Liverpool. He remained as a watch-keeping officer until late 1966 when he joined the Ocean Weather Service and spent a winter in the North Atlantic on a British ocean weather ship. In the spring of 1967 he joined the Trinity House Service as a second officer and worked in the Corporation’s lighthouse tenders. Rising in the service he was promoted Commander in 1980 and thereafter commanded several Trinity House Vessels finishing his sea-career in command of the Corporation’s flagship, THV Patricia. He was promoted Captain and Deputy Marine Superintendent with special responsibilities connected with offshore helicopter operations and automation, accepting early retirement with the de-manning of all offshore stations and full automation in 1997.