Webchat: The importance of ships to our island nation

Imagine what would happen if every ship on our seas suddenly vanished...what impact would that have on our island nation? Our ferry terminals, fishing ports and freight dockyards would fall silent and there would be no Royal Navy to protect our merchant ships and shores.

Pretty soon there would be no fuel for our cars, chronic food shortages and riots on our streets. That is the message of a hard-hitting campaign for Seafarers Awareness Week - to remind us how reliant we are on the ships and the 80,000 British men and women who work at sea.

Log on to our Web TV show to today find out what a seafarer is, what they do and why their work is so important to all of us. Commodore Barry Bryant, Director General and Dennis Treleaven, Head of Grants at Seafarers UK will be joining us live at 4pm.