Author: Nathaniel Xavier

Stella Maris, a leading maritime charity dedicated to supporting seafarers and fishers worldwide, is pleased to announce the launch of a new workshop series across the UK.

These workshops are aimed at empowering individuals to identify cases of modern slavery within the maritime industry, supporting victims and survivors of modern slavery and raising awareness of the issue.

According to the most recent report from the International Labour Organisation, there has been a 10% increase in forced labour since 2016. This is a trend recognised by Stella Maris chaplains around the world. Seafarers and fishers who endure extended periods away from home and who may face isolation on vessels can be particularly susceptible to exploitation. In response, Stella Maris is taking proactive steps to address and help combat this issue.

The newly developed workshops, funded by the Department for Transport through the Merchant Navy Welfare Board, will provide participants with essential knowledge and tools to identify signs of modern slavery and to respond effectively to potential cases. The sessions will be led by a panel of experts and will focus on key topics, including: recognising indicators of exploitation, ways to reduce the risks of modern slavery, understanding the emerging threats and trends in modern slavery, and identifying and accessing appropriate support networks for those escaping modern slavery. Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear the voices of some of those who have experienced modern slavery firsthand.

Speaking about the initiative, Tim Hill MBE, CEO at Stella Maris, stated, “We are extremely proud to launch these workshops as part of our ongoing commitment to improving the welfare of seafarers and fishers. Forced labour and modern slavery have no place in the modern maritime sector in the UK. By empowering individuals to recognise and address instances of these crimes, we can help to create a safer environment for those who work at sea.”

The workshops will be open to front-line port personnel, including ship visitors, ship operators, port authorities, law enforcement agencies, and other port stakeholders who come into contact with seafarers and fishers. To ensure accessibility and increased reach, the workshops will be held in six locations around the UK: Liverpool, Bristol, Hull, Glasgow, Portsmouth and Belfast. To find information about the workshop series, go to www.stellamaris.org.uk/combatting-modern-slavery/

Stella Maris believes that it is vital for all stakeholders in the maritime sector to work together in the fight against modern slavery. By equipping front-line workers and volunteers in the sector with the necessary knowledge and skills, it aims to inspire a network of advocates within the maritime industry who will collectively help to combat this issue.

Maritime charities and industry leaders will come together on 12 September in London to discuss the importance of seafarer welfare and wellbeing as shipping embraces environmental, social and governance goals.

Held as part of London International Shipping Week 2023, Sailors’ Society, Stella Maris, The Mission to Seafarers and The Seafarers’ Charity are coming together to host a major industry conference on seafarer welfare and wellbeing. The Fishmongers’ Company are very kindly hosting the conference in their beautiful and historic grade ll* listed building, Fishmongers’ Hall, with its unrivalled riverside location, unique history and rich architecture.

The event will open with remarks from the Chair, Julian Clark, Vice President & Senior Legal Advisor, Gard AS, and feature two different panels that will examine how crew welfare is vital as the shipping industry moves toward more sustainable, safe and diverse operations.

The panel discussions will focus on two different themes. The first session will focus on how the maritime charities and industry can further collaborate to improve seafarer welfare. Graham Westgarth, Chairman V Group and President UK Chamber of Shipping, will deliver a keynote speech. The panel will include representatives from Thomas Miller, ISWAN, Gard, Navigator Gas and The Mission to Seafarers.

The second session will discuss how together, the maritime charities and industry can support an increasingly diverse workforce. Heidi Heseltine, Founder, Diversity Study Group Ltd and CEO, Halcyon Recruitment, will deliver the keynote talk. This will be followed by a panel discussion that includes representatives from Sailors’ Society, Stella Maris, The Seafarers’ Charity, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement and Carisbrooke Shipping.

In a joint statement, Sailors’ Society CEO, Sara Baade, Chief Executive Officer of Stella Maris, Tim Hill MBE, Secretary General of The Mission to Seafarers, The Revd Canon Andrew Wright and Chief Executive of The Seafarers’ Charity, Deborah Layde, said:

“Seafaring can be tough. This is why the world’s seafarers deserve decent working conditions and support for their welfare. Many shipping companies recognise this, but when they don’t, maritime welfare charities are often relied upon to step in and pick up the pieces. Everyone has a role to play and the least we can do is ensure that seafarers are aware of the range of welfare support that is available to them. Through collaborating as maritime charities with ship owners and managers, P&I Clubs, flag states, legal firms and supra-national bodies we can ensure that the welfare and wellbeing of all seafarers and fishers remains in sharp focus. Working together with the wider industry, we can provide the world’s 1.9 million seafarers and their families with the support and empowerment they need. 

“With many hundreds of years of experience between us, we also recognise that there is a need for change. New internet services will enable seafarers to access welfare support not just in port, but at home and at sea too. We also recognise that more needs to be done to support not only the recruitment, but the retention, of women who choose a career at sea. Research has proven time and again that they have different welfare needs. and just because they are in a minority does not mean these needs should be ignored.”

For more information on the conference, the full agenda, and details on joining virtually, please click here: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-s-in-esg-seafarers-welfare-conference-reception-fishmongers-hall-tickets-646884778787

A Sea Sunday message from Cardinal Michael Czerny S.J. Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in the Vatican.

More about Sea Sunday here.

Here are some recent updates showcasing the excellent work being done by some of our international Stella Maris colleagues.

Stella Maris Canada – New port chaplain appointed in Montreal

We warmly welcome Deacon Benjamin Ripley (in picture below) to our wider Stella Maris global family. He has been appointed as the new Montreal port chaplain in Canada by the Archbishop of Montreal, Christian Lépine, in early March 2023,

Benjamin is already well-groomed to start his role, having attended in 2022 the NAMMA-Stella Maris Houston training course; the NAMMA annual conference in Baltimore, and Stella Maris North America symposium in Washington DC; and the Stella Maris Global Convention in Glasgow – all prior to his Ordination as a Franciscan Friar to the (Transitional) Diaconate in October 2022.  He has also been apprenticing with Dcn Paul Racette, Stella Maris chaplain at Trois Rivieres for the past two years – and will continue his part-time participation in this port not far from Montreal. 

Benjamin was born in 1974 and raised in the West Elgin region of southwestern Ontario, Canada. In his young adult years, he mainly worked as a factory production worker in the automotive parts manufacturing sector. He also served ten years in the Canadian Armed Forces – three years as an Army Reservist, and seven years as a sailor in the Royal Canadian Navy.

After leaving the Royal Canadian Navy, Benjamin discerned a vocation to religious life and joined the Franciscan Friars of Canada (Ofm)-Holy Spirit Province in 2009. As a lay brother, he trained in areas of chaplaincy such as hospital and prison chaplaincy.

“One of the reasons why I am attracted to chaplaincy is the freedom it offers to serve and minister to marginalised people such as seafarers. Over the years as a Franciscan friar, I have discerned a calling to the ordained ministry. On 22 October 2022 I was ordained to the transitional diaconate and am looking forward to a future ordination to the priesthood,” Benjamin said.

Benjamin continued, “When I was a sailor, I experienced firsthand the welcome and sanctuary that seafarer missions and centres offer. This stayed with me and now I continue to feel the connection to seafarer ministry; I was fortunate to have been introduced to the Stella Maris apostolate over the past two years as a volunteer/ship visitor at Foyer des Marins in Trois-Rivières, Québec and Maison de Marins in Montréal; I am eager to serve as Port Chaplain in the Port of Montreal with my whole heart and soul.”

Stella Maris India – National Maritime Day celebrations in Tuticorin and Chennai

National Maritime Day in India is celebrated every year on 5 April across the country to commemorate the maiden voyage of the first Indian Commercial vessel SS Loyalty that set sail from Bombay (Mumbai) to London, on 5 April 1919. The Day is meant to appreciate the contribution of maritime trade to the growth of Indian economy and the significance of India’s strategic location in international trade.

Our Stella Maris team in Tuticorin celebrated the day creating awareness about the Maritime Day History and the role of Indian Seafarers in the Maritime Industry. They also distributed essential grocery items and food packages to widows of deceased seafarers and fishers.

Separately in Chennai, Holy Mass was celebrated at St. Paul’s Church by Port Chaplain Fr. Prem Raj. Awareness about the Maritime Day history and the role of Indian seafarers in the maritime industry was part of the celebration.

Stella Maris Philippines

In celebration of the 2023 Women’s Month, Stella Maris Philippines, in partnership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) gathered about one hundred delegates, the great majority seafarer’s wives, from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, at the Manila Prince Hotel, from 29 March to 1 April, 2023.

The highlight was the gathering was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Stella Maris Philippines and OWWA to implement and monitor OWWA’s and Stella Maris’ programmes and services to seafarers and their families nationwide. You can read the press release by clicking the link below.

Stella Maris Taiwan – Kaohsiung Annual Report

Below you’ll find an excellent report produced by our team in Kaohsiung, led by port chaplain Fr Ansensius Guntur.

Stella Maris South Africa – Cape Town newsletter

This March activity report from Fr Rico Talisic, Stella Maris Cape Town port chaplain, is definitely worth a read.

We held our first Stella Maris Mass of the year at Cardiff Cathedral on 8 February.

The main celebrant was Archbishop Mark O’Toole, Bishop of Menevia. He was joined by Fr Paul Osunyikanmi, Stella Maris regional port chaplain for Wales.

It was wonderful to see our port chaplains, ship visitors, volunteers, supporters and head office staff at the Mass and reception. Thanks everyone for your generosity.

Photos can be see on our Flickr site here https://www.flickr.com/photos/apostleshipofthesea/albums/72177720305989698

You can read Archbishop Mark’s homily below.

I am delighted to be with you today to thank God for the work of Apostleship of the Sea, and to celebrate this Mass in Honour of Our Lady, Star of the Sea.  Your presence in ports throughout the world, your daily visits to ships docked in these ports and the fraternal welcome you give to the crews whilst in port are a visible sign of the Church’s concern for those who are far from home and who cannot receive ordinary pastoral care through a parish.

Personally, I have a soft spot for your work and mission.  This is because my grandfather was something of a seafarer and fisherman.  He was fortunate enough to have his own boat and grateful for the livelihood it provided, making a living in trading goods and supplies off the West coast of Ireland.  Yet he knew the perils and changing temperaments of the open sea and always preserved a huge respect for its changing moods.  As a family we always saw in this, something of the reality of human life with all its ups and downs.

It is one of the reasons I have always loved that Gospel passage of Jesus asleep in the boat.  Sometimes in life it seems that Jesus is asleep amidst the storms that we may be facing.  But He is with us, as He was with those earliest disciples.  Jesus accompanied his disciples in their boat.  He knows their experience from the inside as he helped them in their labours in fishing and making a living, and he calmed the storms.  Thus, the Church also accompanies seafarers, taking care of the specific spiritual needs of those who for various reasons live and work in the maritime world.  We gather today to unite ourselves with this intention and that we work to break down “the globalisation of indifference” of which the Holy Father has spoken.

Several years ago, I was able to witness a situation where local port Chaplains working for Stella Maris, helped release some Filipino migrants who were being exploited in a kind of modern slave labour on ships.  They were far from home and loved ones, with little prospect of going home until the “whistle was blown” by those ship visitors. 

Nowadays the world of seafaring, with its continual movement of people, has to take account of the complex effects of globalisation.  Unfortunately, there are situations of injustice, especially when crews are subject to restrictions on disembarkation, abandoned along with the vessels on which they work, face the threat of piracy at sea or suffer as a result of exploitation and abuse.  The vulnerability of seafarers must encourage even greater concern on the part of the Church.  Their plight stimulates the maternal care of the Church and this is shown, through you, to those you meet in ports and on-board ships.

Many of the people you serve know this very well.  They are at the mercy of forces much greater than themselves.  Sometimes, those forces work for their good, and help them make a better life for their families at home.  Sometimes they are not so good; they can be exploitative, even malevolent.  It is one reason why it is good to meet today, in God’s Providence when the Church also keeps the memory of St Josephine Bakhita who knew what it was to be trafficked form one part of the world to another and who nevertheless, despite her suffering new the closeness of eh Lord and the loving care of the Church. 

So, today we gather to pray for seafarers all over the world, and especially here in Wales.  We know that they are some of the poorest, and most exploited, of workers and they need our support and our protection.  In these two Dioceses with their long stretches of dramatic and beautiful coastline, we know something of the power and beauty of the sea.  “Here your proud waves must break”, we echo with Job in that reading. 

I think each of us knows something of the immensity and beauty of lvinig and working by the sea.  Yet, living off the sea can be a somewhat precarious existence, true today as it has always been. It is Mary, under her title, Star of the Sea, who has found such a strong resonance in the hearts of so many believers who are seafarers or those who work or live by the sea.  Our Blessed Lady knew what it was to be far from home and loved ones in a strange land.

Our Lady, Star of the Sea, bring us the light of your Son, and show His path in our dark world so that we may find our way to Him under your protective mantle.  Protect seafarers and their families, and bring them consolation when they are separated.  Help us to show your maternal care for all those who are need especially the poor and suffering.

Our Lady, Star of the Sea… Pray for us

+Mark O’Toole

Archbishop of Cardiff

Bishop of Menevia