The Auckland International Seafarers Centre exists to serve the welfare needs of visiting merchant seafarers. We do this through ship-visiting, the provision of a welcoming centre where the seafarer can relax away from the ship, and the opportunity to contact home using free wifi and other facilities.
Alongside these practical services for today’s seafarers, we maintain a quiet area where plaques recall seafarers who have suffered through shipwrecks and wars, reminding visitors of the cost that often lies behind global trade.
The large plaque to the right of the bell was unveiled and dedicated on 28 October 1945. Headed “Virtutae non verbis” (”by virtue not words’), it reads:
In Honour
of
The Officers and Men of the
MERCHANT NAVY
who gave their lives to maintain
the services of transport and supply
during the war of 1939-1945
and to those ranks and ratings of the R.N.
and auxiliary vessels
who sacrificed their lives
that the merchant fleets may keep the seas
MV KAITAWA