THE area's Merchant Navy veterans gathered at Grimsby's fishermen's memorial to remember their fallen comrades.
They met to commemorate Merchant Navy Day, which falls on September 3 each year since being established 13 years ago.
This year's service was especially touching as it marked 70 years since the climax of the Battle Of The Atlantic, which claimed the lives of 36,000 allied merchant seamen.
Tim Brant, of Caistor, served in the Merchant Navy for nine years between 1957 and 1966, and attended with service organisers the Immingham and South Humber branch of the Merchant Navy Association, of which is he is the national secretary.
He said: "The service is to commemorate Merchant Navy Day but it is also to remember seafarers lost in conflicts through time.
"A lot of the guys have got no known graves and have been lost to the seas."
September 3 marks the anniversary of the sinking of the SS Athenia in 1939, the first British merchant vessel lost during the Second World War. In June this year British Merchant veterans were awarded Arctic Convoy medals and the Atlantic Star by Prime Minister David Cameron 70 years after the conflict came to an end, following a lengthy campaign.
The voyages undertaken by the convoys were described by Winston Churchill as "the worst journey in the world".
Humber chaplain the Reverend Cameron MacDonald, who led yesterday's service, said: "We talk about our troops as heroes and Merchant Navy seafarers are also the heroes of our land. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't get our North Sea oil, our lives would be a misery because we import so much.
"Immingham holds a million tonnes of coal and it keeps our nation going."
He told the veterans: "This year there is a great emphasis on the Arctic Convoys and thankfully the British government has now at least recognised veterans by giving them medals.
"Today we especially remember those who have died who have served in the Merchant service."
The service included a minute's silence, a prayer for seafarers and the singing of the hymn Eternal Father Strong To Save.
Veteran Malcolm Mathison, who served in the Merchant Navy for 18 years, said: "If nobody else remembers what the Merchant Navy lads did during the First and Second World Wars, then at least we have."
Minister for Shipping, Mike Penning, added: "We owe those brave seafarers a debt of gratitude for their sacrifices and the contribution they made to our national wellbeing."
Many of the local veterans will be travelling to London on Sunday for the annual Merchant Day Commemoration Service.
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