Arctic Maritime Safety
How can lessons from the past be helpful in addressing today's challenges to the safety of people in the Arctic Ocean economy.
Heritage Centre
Discover how Lloyd's Register Foundation is harnessing our heritage to shape a safer and more sustainable ocean economy for the future.
+1,100,000
+1,100,000
Source
Our collection holds over 1.1m documents concerning the construction, maintenance and development of ships from the 1830s until the 1960s. The collection is freely available to all.
Without learning from the past, we cannot tackle the maritime challenges of the present.
For more than 260 years, through three industrial revolutions, Lloyd’s Register has been ensuring that ships, their crews and their cargoes are safe to go to sea. This focus on maritime safety has always been critical to the ocean economy.
Today, as the maritime sector navigates a range of new challenges of climate change, maintaining sustainable global supply chains and meeting vital net zero targets, is it important that we look back to examine the lessons we can learn from the past to help chart our course to a safer and more sustainable future.
At the heart of this learning process is the Lloyd’s Register Foundation archive, a unique research resource offering unparalleled reserves of data and knowledge regarding the evolution of maritime safety and the complex factors that drive this process.
Cared for and curated by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage Centre, the archive is open to all, both in person at our historic home at 71 Fenchurch Street, London, and online via our growing range of digitised assets.
The Foundation is working with a diverse range of partners across the globe to unlock both the value of this archive and of a ‘learning from the past’ approach to maritime safety and sustainability challenges more broadly.
Explore our work in this area below, or visit the Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage Centre website to find out more and explore our archive.
Help us make a difference
21
21
Live heritage grants.
6
6
Countries receiving funding in this area.
£6.7m
£6.7m
Total value grant portfolio.
Latest news
This page was published on
This page is approximately a 3 minute read
Following the Fish: uncovering stories of the herring girls through cross-archives partnership
'Following the Fish' brings to life the remarkable but often overlooked stories of the herring girls — thousands of women who travelled Britain's coastlines gutting and packing fish across the 19th and 20th centuries. Through a cross-archives partnership, this project uncovers their resilience, community spirit, and lasting economic impact.
This page was published on
This page is approximately a 5 minute read
From Disaster to Framework: How the Loss of Titanic Reshaped Maritime Safety
On the anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic, Louise Sanger, Head of Research, Interpretation and Engagement at Lloyd's Register Foundation's Heritage Centre, considers why the sinking matters today.
This page was published on
This page is approximately a 4 minute read
A new Heritage Centre website
After a year of work behind the scenes, we’re excited to share the launch of the new Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage Centre website.
This page was published on
This page is approximately a 4 minute read
Don’t Rock the Boat: Why Stability Matters for Historic Floating Vessels
Supported by Lloyd's Register Foundation’s small grant programme, the ‘Don’t Rock the Boat’ project, led by National Historic Ships UK and maritime engineers Beckett Rankine, set out to produce Stability Guidelines to help owners assess, manage and improve the structural safety of the vessels in their care.
Alex Stitt Director of the Heritage Centre
Drawing on our extensive archive, the Foundation is in a unique position to help chart a safe and sustainable future for the ocean economy using lessons from our past.
What type of records does the Heritage Centre hold?
Heritage Centre record data
Total ships built between 1740-1984
Heritage Centre ship data
Visit the Heritage Centre website
Browse unique research and collections, a treasure trove for maritime heritage data, research and initiatives.
Visit the site