Celebrating the maritime connection essential to modern-day life, SCI’s annual awards ceremony lauded the contributions made by persons who strengthen the bonds of community and camaraderie.
On Thursday, June 9, 2016, the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) hosted its 39th Annual Silver Bell Awards Dinner at Pier Sixty in New York, raising over $800,000 for the Institute’s programs and services for mariners. At the event, SCI honored Joseph H. Pyne, Chairman of Kirby Corporation, the Italian Navy and Coast Guard and the Hellenic Coast Guard.
The Institute gave its Silver Bell Award to Joseph H. Pyne for his service to the maritime industry throughout an extensive and extraordinary career. In his preliminary remarks, Orrin H. Ingram II, Chairman of Ingram Barge Company and former Silver Bell honoree, called Pyne “a leader among leaders in the maritime industry.” During Pyne’s 38-year involvement with Kirby Corporation, he has worked on and chaired numerous waterway industry committees and boards. Pyne also played an instrumental role in bringing SCI’s maritime training simulation center to Houston, TX.
Admiral Charles D. Michel, Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, introduced the other award given during the evening, celebrating the tremendous efforts of three organizations working in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian Navy and Coast Guard along with the Hellenic Coast Guard have rescued tens of thousands of migrants in the past two years, transporting men, women, children and infants to safety. For their courage and compassion in assisting these people in need, SCI conferred its Lifesaving Award.
The Silver Bell Awards Dinner honors men and women who have demonstrated significant commitment to merchant mariners and the issues facing the maritime industry. The event takes place each year on the second Thursday in June. The next Silver Bell Awards Dinner scheduled for Thursday, June 8, 2017, marks the 40th year of the celebration.
