Our History

Kings Fleet: A Brief History

The first King's Fleet conference was held in Sweden in 1979. At that time, it was known as the "Skippers' Conference" and began as an annual gathering for a group of skippers from maritime ministries across Sweden and Northern Europe.

Approximately 15 years later, Birger Borgemo from Shalom Ministries took responsibility for organising and often hosting the event.

In recent years, the first American conference was hosted by Dan Smith from Maritime Ministries, helping to spread the word on the other side of the Atlantic.

In 2019, Cameron Springthorpe attended the Swedish conference. Recognising the need for a greater online presence, he created the King's Fleet website, took over the email list from Birger, and began spreading the word further afield.

This proved to be an example of God's perfect timing. With the COVID-19 pandemic just around the corner, it soon became impossible to meet in person.

Each year, a different ministry takes a turn hosting the conference. In 2020, it was due to be hosted by the Elida crew in Germany. When this was sadly not possible, the first online conference was held instead. It was a great success, bringing together people from many different countries.

Regular online meetings followed, facilitated with the help of Dan Smith (Maritime Ministries), Michael Seyfert (Sailing for Fun), Ann Ford, Jeff and Anne, and many others, as the connections continue to grow around the world.

Our conferences are now hybrid. While the online option is fantastic, nothing beats the in-person experience.

Join us! Annual Conferences