On Friday December 12th we were pleased to present certificates to the two winners of the ISSC, 2025 “Sue Hanby” maritime awards at a ceremony held at the BCIT Marine Campus in North Vancouver.
The winners were cadets William Lea-Smith and Sebastian Slack. William is enrolled in the Nautical Sciences Cadet program and Sebastian in the Marine Engineering program and our Bursary Committee Chair, Richard Smith, was on hand to make the presentations.
Having completed his first sea phase, William is now in his second year at BCIT and aspires to ultimately achieving the position of Ship Master and the title of “Master Mariner” after graduation sometime in 2027. Eventually, after retiring from international voyages, he hopes to settle down in a closer and calmer career as a coastal pilot. Ideally at home on the beautiful coast of Vancouver, British Columbia.
We wish William nothing but the best for his future and hope that this award will go some way to assist in making it a reality.
Sebastian has been working as an Engine Room Appren5ce since 2021 with BC Ferries. Having made the difficult decision to leave his watch and regular paying positon he has pursued a path allowing him to progress his career more quickly and in a structured classroom setting in the BCIT Marine engineering cadet program.
His goal is to graduate the program with a fourth-class motor ticket and then return in the fall of 2027 to complete his first-class ticket part A exemptions allowing him to return to work at sea as an exemplary fourth engineer set on the path towards becoming a Chief Engineer and, eventually, a superintendent or being part of new ship building projects.
We hope that our award will help make these aspirations a reality for Sebastian and we wish him the very best in his endeavours.
