Most of us probably never give much thought to seafarers. They can seem remote from our daily lives. Yet they play a critical role. Without the world’s 1.5 million mariners we wouldn’t have many of the things we take for granted. Cars, computers, clothes, fruit, vegetables: these are just some of the items that are transported to Britain by ships.
This week we mark Sea Sunday when parishes are asked to support the Apostleship of the Sea (AoS), the Catholic Church’s maritime agency. Its chaplains and teams of volunteer ship visitors offer practical help and pastoral care to seafarers, either in ports or on cruise ships.
Much of what AoS teams do in port could be described as making small gestures. They provide mobile phone top-up cards, transport to local shops and warm clothing in the winter. They also try to help seafarers with their spiritual needs. This might mean arranging for Mass to be said on board a ship or providing rosaries or prayer books in different languages.
Earlier this year when a cargo ship was about to leave Southampton and it was discovered that it had a hole in its side, port chaplain Peter Morgan was there to support the crew. He visited them several times and also kept in touch through Facebook. This was greatly appreciated by the crew, as when seafarers arrive in a port they are always strangers in a foreign land.
Feeling isolated is one of the toughest parts of working at sea. Seafarers might have been at sea for months with no opportunity to contact their family back home. Despite all the modern technology used in the maritime industry, most ships don’t have internet access.
“Many seafarers have been at sea for long periods of time with normal contract lengths for ratings lasting six to nine months,” Morgan explains. “This length of time away from home and family, as well as little to no opportunity to relax and get away from the ship, means feeling isolated. Consequences of that isolation are felt on board many ships.”
Deacon Peter Barrigan, the AoS port chaplain for Tees and Hartlepool, says: “As you leave a ship you will often hear, ‘Thank you for your visit.’ I often think I’ve done little, but whatever we do is appreciated.”
Even in the North East, which has a long maritime history, many people know little about what goes on inside a port.
“It’s a bit of a hidden world, even though every day there are ships lying off the Tees, waiting to enter the port to load or discharge,” he says.
“It’s not as if the members of the public can wander into the port and then pop on to a ship to have a look around.”
One of the big changes AoS has seen in recent years is that an increasing number of its port chaplains and volunteer ship visitors are women. Bryony Watson, a 23-year-old, first got involved with AoS as a ship visitor. Earlier this year she became its youngest port chaplain, covering Immingham, Grimsby and several ports on the Humber and Trent rivers.
When she dons her hard hat and high-vis jacket and goes on board a ship how does she feel?
“Working in a very masculine world was initially a daunting prospect, but I have always been treated with respect by the seafarers,” She says. “Also, we are seeing an upswing in the numbers of female seafarers, and they welcome the opportunity to have a chat with another woman, especially in situations where they are the only women on board the vessel.
“Recently I met a female seafarer who said how exhausting it could be as the only woman on board. She felt that to be respected even half as much as her male colleagues she had to work twice as hard.”
Bishop Paul Mason, an auxiliary in Southwark, was recently appointed as AoS bishop-promoter, a role he is well suited to, as he grew up amid the shipyards on Tyneside and has several ports in his Kent pastoral area. He has also served as a chaplain on the P&O cruise ship Aurora in the Mediterranean.
“Although there were almost 2,300 passengers on board and a crew of 1,000, it didn’t take long for people to figure out who I was,” he recalls. “I was on my own and wearing clerical dress. I was called to anoint sick passengers and I heard impromptu confessions in lifts and by slot machines.
“But however good it may be to offer priestly ministry to the passengers, the priest’s presence on board is not to offer what the shipping line might see as another entertainment, along with the numerous other ‘entertainers’ on board. No, the focus of the chaplain is on the crew, at sea for months, working long hours and far from family, friends and the sacraments.
“The support AoS offer up and down the country to all seafarers is by and large unseen, just as those to whom they minster can be unseen. It is vital work that brings practical help, prayer, sacramental care and fellowship to so many.”
Greg Watts is an author and journalist
For more information about Apostleship of the Sea, visit apostleshipofthesea.org.uk
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