A message from ICMM President, Matthew Tanner MBE

Dear ICMM friends and colleagues,

I hope this finds you well and your museums are thriving.

This post will be my last as President of ICMM, as I stepped down from the role on 30th September after four years’ service.

It has been a huge privilege as well as a great pleasure to serve you the members and maritime museums around the world as President, and I am proud of the progress we have made over this time and the work that we have done together. A particular highlight of course was coming together for the Congress in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This was our first Congress after the pandemic and there was some doubt as to how many people in the maritime museum community would be able to travel to meet together in person once again. In the end there were over 120 delegates at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and the whole event was a heart-warming reaffirmation of our international network of people and places dedicated to our collective maritime heritage. There was a great lobster dinner too!

I am also very pleased at the way the ICMM committees are setting to work – the Maritime Archaeology Committee under Fred Hocker of the Vasa Museum, the Museum Ships Committee under Vincent Lipanovich of the New Zealand Maritime Museum, and the newly formed Marine Environment Committee under Laura Boon of the National Maritime Museum UK.

And I would say of particular importance is the recent announcement of the grant award from the Lloyds Register Foundation that looks to invest more than £1 million into maritime museum research projects and to develop and grow the worldwide ICMM network. This is a fantastic vote of confidence in ICMM, and we must embrace the opportunity with eager vigour. This project which will start in October 2023 will transform our ability to work together and to advocate for the maritime heritage and the marine environment everywhere.

The time has now come for me to take on some new challenges and part of my new ventures mean that I have also stepped down from my role as Chief Executive and Director at the SS Great Britain after 26 years in Bristol, UK. Maritime heritage remains my lifelong passion and professional focus, however, and I will be offering strategic support and advice as a consultant for museums and maritime heritage organisations in the UK and around the world, and I look forward to keeping in touch with all my friends within ICMM. I also will continue to serve on the Board of HMS Victory at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in the UK, and to chair the Victory Technical Committee.

I want to say a sincere thank you to you all, as ICMM members, for honouring me with the position of your President. I send good luck to my successor, and I know that you will continue to build on the partnerships and collaboration in the spirit of the ICMM international network. I wish you the very best for the future and I hope to see you again for a successful gathering together at Congress next year in the Low Countries.

Calm seas and a prosperous voyage!

Dr Matthew Tanner MBE

Email – mtanner352@gmail.com