TRIBUTES have been paid to a Barry seafaring stalwart.

James Thomas Greenway, chairman and founder of the Barry branch of the Merchant Navy Association, died on March 21 after a short illness.

Better known as Jim, the Fryatt Street resident, has been described as a "major driving force" of the branch.

Mr Greenway's son, Keith, said: “For many years, Jim had been a major driving force as a founder member of the Barry branch of the Merchant Navy Association and its Welsh body.

"He passionately believed that all those who risked life and limb by going to sea and keeping essential supply channels open to Britain and its allies deserved much greater recognition.”

Mr Greennway's grandfather, Thomas Greenway, died in the First World War when the ship he was serving on was torpedoed. His great uncle, James, suffered the same fate in the Second World War, while his father, James Joseph Greenway, died at sea in 1938 when Jim was only five-and-a-half.

Mr Greenway attended St. Helen’s’ Roman Catholic schools, but could not go to nautical college in Cardiff because he was unable to afford the fees or the uniform.

He managed to go to sea by joining the Merchant Navy – starting off at ‘Sea School’ at Sharpness where he was taught the basics and subsequently did lifeboat and catering courses, excelling in the latter.

As a rating, his first ship was a Canadian cargo ship, the Gatineau Park in 1948. It sailed from Barry to Liverpool where it picked up a local cargo and went up the Manchester Canal to Salford and after that crossed the Atlantic to ports in Canada and the USA.

Mr Greenway travelled all over the world on marathon voyages - one as long as nine months – which took him through the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal, to Aden, Singapore and Communist China and countless ports in between, before medical problems forced him to leave the navy.

He then worked for BP Distillers for 25 years as a polymerisation (PVC) technician, and was a works convenor for the Transport and General Workers’ Union.

He chose early retirement in 1983 and was a Labour candidate in a local election.

Mr Greenway is credited with playing a major role in forging maritime links of friendship and fraternity and highlighting the role played by both Welsh and Irishmen in the Merchant Navy, especially during both world wars.

In 2000, as secretary of the Barry MNA branch, he presented his grandfather’s war medals at a reception in the Kinsale Regional Museum.

He and his colleagues were also said to have been proud of signing the Friendship Pacts between Kinsale Harbour Board and the Barry Branch of the Merchant Navy Association in Kinsale in May 1999.

The second leg of the Friendship Pact was signed at the Seaview Labour Club in Barry on September 29, 2001. A similar pact of friendship was sign between Barry and Kinsale Councils a few years ago.

Hi son added: “He will be sadly missed by all his family and friends.”