It is a day to pray and offer support for all those seafarers who bring to our many ports around the coastline of Britain most of what we need ourselves, as well as the resources, raw materials, fuel and energy that industry needs to manufacture British products. Seafarers also man ships leaving our shores with holds and containers full of British exports destined for countries all over the world. It is a dynamic operation with a commercial purpose, involving some 1.3 million seafarers from all over the world. In fact, a high proportion of seafarers come from Catholic countries. They readily find a home from home in port centres run by Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) personnel. AoS chaplains and volunteers not only provide them with a warm welcome and hospitality in these centres, but also visit them in their ships during short turn-round times, and take them by minibus to many a Catholic parish for daily or Sunday Mass when Mass is not available on board. These are charming and cheerful people, so grateful and appreciative of what Stella Maris, Our Lady Star of the Sea, does for them through the AoS. AoS too is a dynamic operation, but with a spiritual and charitable purpose.

Yet, in an age when we can send rockets and satellites to the moon, when almost daily there are remarkable advances in science and technology, seafarers continue to be concerned about the basics of human living: unpaid wages, contractual abuses, personal injury, fatigue and sickness, shore leave, abandonment and discrimination. What goes on at sea is unseen; they have no one to turn to for help; they are scared to speak out for fear of retribution or loss of their jobs. Even piracy on the high seas goes largely unchecked – and this is the twenty-first century!

In the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden, earlier this year there were 15 ships and over 300 seafarers held hostage by Somali pirates. The increasing menace and violence of these terrorists shows how much they are emboldened by the success of their attacks, their threats, their maltreatment of captives and their ransom demands. The cost to the world economy is estimated to be between $7 billion and $12 billion a year. Seafarers tell AoS personnel of the cost to themselves: promised bonuses for travelling through pirate-infested waters go unpaid; negotiations over their stolen cargo seem to have a higher priority than the value of their own lives; so, when they are captured they feel forgotten. They also speak to AoS chaplains and volunteers about poor health and safety standards, low training levels, and even the questionable seaworthiness of their vessels. Their families at home worry constantly about them.

Even piracy on the high seas goes largely unchecked – and this is the 21st century!

This year is the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic. There has, understandably, been a great deal of media focus on this tragedy and its legacy. The Hollywood blockbuster Titanic returned to our cinema screens and there was also a major TV series with the same title. One aspect of the tragedy that did not receive much media attention was the presence on board the Titanic of Catholic clergy who selflessly ministered to the crew and passengers as the ship sank. Yet in a maritime world that has undergone much change in the hundred years since Titanic, one constant has been the presence of the Catholic Church alongside seafarers – from the Titanic to the Costa Concordia – providing pastoral and practical care to all, regardless of their background or situation.

The Apostleship of the Sea is on the front line, supporting seafarers worldwide. This is illustrated by the ongoing support we are providing to the crew of the Westwind II, a cargo ship which has been arrested in Portland Harbour since October 2011. The crew of this ship were stranded in Portland with no pay and no easy way to contact their families and loved ones following the ship’s detention by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) for a significant number of deficiencies.

We say ‘no’ to exploitation and unsafe work practices. We say ‘yes’ to seafarers’ rights, fair freight and safe working conditions

The ship was later arrested by the Admiralty Marshall. Since October 2011 our local chaplain, Rev. Roger Stone, and his team of volunteer ship visitors have been supporting the crew in a variety of ways. As the crew’s situation became increasingly precarious, not knowing whether the ship would be sold or whether unpaid wages would be met, the Apostleship of the Sea continued to provide much-needed support. This ranged from the very practical provision of phone cards and internet access so that the crew could speak to family and loved ones back home, to liaising with the MCA and Admiralty Marshall about the ship’s arrest. Roger and his team arranged for the ship’s chief engineer to visit a local dentist for treatment and for another member of the crew to access emergency medical treatment after he suffered serious burns from a ruptured hot water pipe. The Apostleship of the Sea team is working with the seafarers’ trade union, the ITF, to ensure that unpaid crew wages are settled. Our work makes a huge difference. We need your help to ensure we continue this work. 

The Apostleship of the Sea offers practical and pastoral help, solidarity and a hand of friendship to all seafarers. We work to educate governments and the public on issues facing seafarers on a daily basis. We say ‘no’ to exploitation and unsafe work practices. We say ‘yes’ to seafarers’ rights, fair freight and safe working conditions.

It is a dynamic operation with a commercial purpose, involving some 1.3 million seafarers from all over the world

On Sea Sunday in particular and on other days too, we ask you to make a special place for seafarers in your hearts and prayers. Let us all pray to Mary, Star of the Sea, to promise our solidarity with seafarers, and to resolve that we will do all we can to protect and look after them. For it is surely just and fitting that seafarers should be made to feel that they have a rightful stake in the society that they endeavour daily to serve. As the two Bishops in Britain responsible for promoting the cause of seafarers through the work of the Apostleship of the Sea, may we thank you for your prayers and your offerings. May the Lord bless you for your generosity.