In remembrance. Senior of the District Mechanics Marceli Stelmaszczuk (1941-2025)

Senior Marine Engineer Marceli Stelmaszczuk has departed for eternal watch. He was a co-founder of the Association of Senior Marine Engineers and its charismatic long-time chairman.

He was born on 12 June 1941 in Tyszowce near Zamość. His father Władysław fought in a local partisan unit during World War II and after being arrested by the Germans was murdered in the Zamość Rotunda on 20 July 1944. After the war, Marceli Stelmaszczuk and his mother came to Western Pomerania.

In the 1950s, he studied to be an electrician, and passed his matriculation exams in 1964 at the Secondary School for Employed, while working as an electrician at the port of Szczecin. He worked on, among other things, port cranes on the Old Town quay, including the historic cranes. In the 1960s, he studied at the State Maritime School in Gdynia at the Faculty of Mechanics. During that time, he completed a candidate cruise on the "Dar Pomorza" and land-based internship at the Szczecin Shipyard. After graduating from the State Maritime School, he began working at sea in the Polish Steamship Company fleet, first on steam-powered ships (such as "Huta Łabędy"), and then on diesel-powered ships. The first unit he worked on as a mechanical officer was the first Polish ferry "Gryf", sailing on the Świnoujście-Ystad route. During one of the port stops, he saved a Swedish passenger who had fallen overboard. In 1971 he joined the Polish Ocean Lines, where he was promoted to senior engineer officer. He was associated with the Polish Ocean Lines until 1993 (with a break in 1984-85, when he worked for foreign shipowners). Then he sailed on ships of the EuroAfrica Shipping Lines company, the longest on the "Amber", until his retirement in 2002.

He spent almost 40 years at sea. He started as a lubricator. Then he was promoted to engine assistant, fourth engineer and so on, step by step, to chief. His longest, 19-month cruise, was on the semi-container "Athenian Zoe". He said that if he had to choose again, he would also become a mechanic.

In the years 2000-2008 he was a juror of the Maritime Chamber at the District Court in Szczecin. In 2004 he co-chaired a team aimed at amending the regulation on maritime diplomas. As a result, new Polish diplomas began to meet international standards, which enabled thousands of Polish officers to take up employment in the global shipping market. In 2006 he became involved in supporting the idea of ​​locating an LNG terminal in Świnoujście (a scientific symposium was organized).

He was one of the founders of the Association of Senior Marine Mechanics, established in 1981. He was the initiator of changing the name of the SSMM to the Association of Senior Marine Mechanics Officers. In the years 1987-2015 he served as the chairman of this organization in Szczecin, and later was the honorary chairman of the SSOMM.

– Marceli had a vision of an association important in the maritime economy, he was the originator and creator of many projects – recalls Senior of Mechanics, Prof. Zbigniew Łosiewicz, chairman of SSOMM in Szczecin. – He knew how to select people, manage them and appreciate them. For me, he was a mentor, an older brother, a friend, the best boss I had.

Marceli Stelmaszczuk received many state, departmental and regional decorations, including the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

The funeral will take place on June 24 this year (Tuesday). The Holy Mass will be celebrated that day in the Church of St. John Bosko in Szczecin (at Witkiewicza Street) at 10 a.m., and the funeral will begin in the Main Chapel at the Central Cemetery at 12 p.m.

(ek)