Centres

The Centres for Seafarers currently has three centres conveniently located at busy ports in the the UK. It is hoped more Centres will be added over the next few years. At present, the supported ports are:

Fawley

Latitude: 50 degrees, 50.4 minutes North
Longitude: 1 degrees, 19.8 minutes West

Fawley is located on the south coast within the New Forest, in the the county of Hampshire in England. The port is situated at the most southerly point of the western side of Southampton Water where it joins the Solent. Fawley is situated approximately 7 nautical miles south of Southampton.

Fawley is home to largest oil refinery in the UK, operated by Esso, and a chemical facility operated by ExxonMobil. The refinery has a capacity of 326,000 barrels a day and over 3000 people are employed by the two sites. Fawley Power Station is also located less than a mile to the south east of the village.

Southampton

Latitude: 50 degrees, 53.9 minutes North
Longitude: 1 degrees, 24.0 minutes West

Southampton is located on the south coast, in the the county of Hampshire in England. The port is situated at the northern-most point of Southampton Water where it is joined by the River Test and River Itchen with the River Hamble joining to the south. Southampton is a natural deep-water harbour and the unique double tide allows unrestricted access for the world’s largest vessels.

Southampton is the UK’s leading vehicle-handling port and it is also a major handler of liquid and dry bulks and containers. Almost half of the UK’s containerised trade with the whole of the Far East is handled at this port. Over 24 million tonnes of oil and petroleum-related products are handled at the nearby oil terminals of Esso, at Fawley, and BP, at Hamble, each year.

Tilbury

Latitude: 51 degrees, 27.7 minutes North
Longitude: 0 degrees, 20.9 minutes East

Tilbury is located on the north bank of the River Thames east of London, in the borough of Thurrock in England, at the point where the river suddenly narrows to about 800 yards/740 metres in width. Tilbury has a deep water port, a fort and was the site of an important ferry to Gravesend on the south bank of the river.

Historically, Tilbury port was used for emigration to Australia under an assisted passage scheme established and operated by the Australian Government. Today the port handles a variety of cargo, container, and passenger liner traffic and remains, along with Southampton and Felixstowe, one of Britain's three major ports.