Premier's Message for Seafarers Day 2026

Long before the banks and hotels, before air conditioning and the highways, Cayman's greatest resource was the courage and skill of her seafaring men and women.

Leaving our shores on schooners – some built proudly by Caymanian hands – they accepted the risks of navigating the world (without the instruments we take for granted today, I might add), to bring back the wages that shored up our economy.

Indeed, as late as the 1950s, government reports recorded that the principal export of our Islands wasn’t turtle or rope. It was our seafarers. Their remittances kept families alive, and women kept communities together – and collectively laid the foundation for every success that has followed since.

Today, on this Day of the Seafarer, we remember and give thanks for the men and women who made this jewel in the Caribbean sparkle with light. Our prosperity, resilience, and social fabric is the enduring legacy of those who sailed; our generations truly are connected by the clear blue sea.

This is why we cherish and invest in our beloved Caymanian identity, culture and heritage – it rightly honours the men, women and their rich stories that remind us who we are.

Today we scan the horizon with the benefit of modern tools as we navigate the waters. But we will always honour those who charted the waters before us. Humbly and respectfully we stand on their strong shoulders, and we are thankful for their love of family and country that infuses and inspires us. May God continue to bless our seafarers of yesteryear, today and tomorrow, and God bless the Cayman Islands.