Sea Sunday is the annual day of prayer for those who work at sea and in ports around the world, and their families.
Away from family and friends for many months at a time, working long hours and navigating some of the world’s most dangerous stretches of ocean, seafaring can be a tough, lonely and hazardous career.
Piracy, shipwreck, abandonment and separation from loved ones are just a few of the problems that seafarers and fishers cope with.
Fishers are involved in what is recognised as the most dangerous occupation in the world.
Seafarers transport 90 to 95% of the food and goods the world uses every day, and yet these 1.3 million hardworking men and women who face danger every day are often forgotten.
When aircraft crash we hear about it on the news; when ships sink, unless it’s a cruise liner like the Costa Concordia, it’s almost as if no one cares.
Shipwrecks and Piracy
Wikipedia lists 67 ships as ‘sunk, foundered, grounded or otherwise lost’ in 2012. Twenty-five of those shipwrecks resulted in the loss of at least 943 lives, and probably many more.
Seafarers are constantly threatened by pirates. Between January and 23 May this year, there were 106 incidents reported of ships being attacked, including four hijackings and Somali pirates were holding 71 hostages and 5 vessels.
During 2012 297 ships were attacked by pirates, 174 were boarded, 28 were hijacked and 28 were fired upon. The number of people taken hostage onboard was 585 and a further 26 were kidnapped for ransom in Nigeria. Six crew members were killed and 32 were injured or assaulted. (Information from http://www.icc-ccs.org/)
Stella Maris — an official Ministry of the Church
Under the guidance and protection of Mary, Star of the Sea, the Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) cares for the fishers and seafarers that visit our ports.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, AoS ministers to those who work at sea and in our ports in Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga Moana and Napier. It is in the process opening or re-opening branches in other NZ ports. Continue reading
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