On this occasion, the Vatican published a Message of the Dicastery for the Integral Human Development Service, signed by its Prefect, Cardinal Peter Appia Kodwo Turkson.

The Message is addressed to chaplains, volunteers, friends and supporters of the Apostleship of the Sea, on the occasion of this annual Sea Sunday.

It stresses the importance of protecting the rights of those working at sea, as expressed in the Maritime Labor Convention of 2006.

The Message also announces the 24th World Congress of the Apostleship of the Sea, which will be devoted to fishing and fisheries, and will be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in October 2017.

"Let us ask Mary, Star of the Sea, to sustain our service and dedication to seafarers, fishermen and their families and to protect all the people of the sea until they reach the ‘safe port' of Heaven," writes Cardinal Turkson.

Here is the full text of this Message.

Dear chaplains, volunteers, friends and supporters of the Apostleship of the Sea,

In our daily lives, we are surrounded by and use many objects and products that at some stage of their journey towards us have been transported on vessels.

It is difficult for us to imagine behind these objects the faces of the many seafarers who have secured a smooth sailing for the vessel to deliver these commodities to the port safely.

On Sea Sunday we are invited to recognize and express our gratitude to this force of more than 1.5 million seafarers, (the majority of them coming from developing countries), who with their hard work and sacrifices are making our life more comfortable by transporting, between nations and across the seven seas, almost 90 per cent of the goods. Continue reading

Sources

• Zenit
• Image: Apostleship of the Sea NZ

That was the comment of a UK port chaplain after he responded to an unusual, but not surprising, request from a visiting ship's captain. The captain had told the priest: "What my crew would really like is to walk on green grass. All they get to walk on is steel." So the priest took them to a churchyard, where they all walked barefoot for an hour.

This story of practical mercy is one example of the myriad of ways the Apostleship of the Sea helps seafarers worldwide, including at centres here in New Zealand.

Shipping is a huge industry around the world.

According to a Sea Sunday presentation by the Apostleship of the Sea (UK), there are an estimated 100,000 ships at sea worldwide, with some 1.5 million seafarers.

If the containers of one company, Maersk, were lined up, they would stretch some 18,000 km, more than half way around the Earth.

A highly competitive industry leads to a lot of pressure to minimise costs and has safety and pressure of work consequences for seafarers.

The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 is one vehicle for protecting the rights of seafarers, but vigilance to ensure ongoing compliance is essential.

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has recently commissioned an in-depth study into the implementation and enforcement of the convention, after reports of numerous breaches.

The modern seafarer has to be a hardy, resilient type in order to survive. Private space is very limited on most ships. Seafarers work in an industrial environment, pervaded by the vibration of massive engines. There is no opportunity to escape your environment.

Pressure is on to load and unload vessels as quickly as possible to reduce port charges, so opportunities for shore leave can be limited. Shore leave is typically measured in hours rather than in days. Surveys by seafarer welfare organisations have borne out what I have observed from the seafarers I have encountered as a port chaplain - that a major desire is communication with family back home. Continue reading

Source & Image:

• Article by Michael Otto, AoS Chaplain in Auckland, in Marist Messenger

As ports are built far away from the cities and because of the fast turnaround in loading and unloading the cargo, the crews sailing the ships are like "invisible" people.

As individuals we do not acknowledge the importance and the benefits that the maritime profession brings to our life and we become aware of their work and sacrifices only when disasters strike.

In spite of the technological development that makes life on board more comfortable and easier communicating with their loved ones, the seafarers are forced to spend long months in a restricted space, away from their families.

Restrictive and unjust regulations often limit shore leave when in port and the continuous threat of piracy in many sea routes adds stress while sailing.

We are still confident that the ratification and coming into force of the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 by a growing number of countries, accompanied by effective inspections by flag States, will result in a tangible improvement of the labor and working conditions on board all ships.

With the present day situation of war, violence and political instability in several countries, a new phenomenon has been affecting the shipping industry.

Since last year, with the coast guards and the naval forces of Italy, Malta and European Union, merchant vessels transiting in the Mediterranean Sea have been actively involved in what is the daily occurrence of rescuing thousands and thousands of migrants trying to reach mainly the coasts of Italy in any kind of overcrowded and substandard craft.

Since time immemorial seafarers have fulfilled the obligation to rescue people in distress at sea under any conditions.

However, as it has been stressed by other maritime organizations, merchant vessels rescuing migrants at sea brings a health, safety and security risk for seafarers.

Commercial ships are designed to transport goods (containers, oil, gas, etc.) and all the facilities (accommodation, kitchen, bathroom, lavatories, etc.) are custom-made for the limited number of crew members on board.

For these reasons merchant vessels are not equipped to provide assistance to a large number of migrants.

Seafarers are professionally qualified in their work and trained to handle a number of emergency situations but rescuing hundreds of men, women and children acting frantically while trying to reach the safety of the ship, is something that no training course in maritime school has prepared them for.

Furthermore, the physical effort in doing everything conceivable to rescue as many persons as possible, and sometimes the view of numerous lifeless bodies floating on the sea, are a traumatic experience which leaves the crews exhausted and psychologically distressed needing specific psychological and spiritual support.

On Sea Sunday as the Catholic Church we would like to express our appreciation to the seafarers in general for their vital contribution to the international trade.

This year in particular, we would like to recognize the great humanitarian effort done by the crews of merchant vessels that without hesitation, sometimes risking their own life, have engaged in many rescue operations saving thousands of migrants' lives.

Our gratitude goes also to all the chaplains and volunteers of the Apostleship of the Sea for their daily commitment in serving the people of the sea; their presence in the docks is the sign of the Church in their midst and shows the compassionate and merciful face of Christ.

In conclusion, while we are appealing to the governments in Europe and in the countries of origin of migration flows, as well as to the international organizations to cooperate in searching for a durable and definite political solution to the instability in those countries, we would like also to call for more resources to be committed not only for search and rescue missions but also to prevent the trafficking and exploitation of persons escaping from conditions of conflict and poverty.

• Cardinal Antonio Maria Vegliò, President
• Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil, Secretary

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• Image: Apostleship of the Sea UK

This world of the sea, with the continuous migration of people today, must take into account the complex effects of globalization and, unfortunately, must come to grips with situations of injustice, especially when the freedom of a ship's crew to go ashore is restricted, when they are abandoned altogether along with the vessels on which they work, when they risk piracy at sea and the damage of illegal fishing.

'The vulnerability of seafarers, fishermen and sailors calls for an even more attentive solicitude on the Church's part and should stimulate the motherly care that, through you, she expresses to all those whom you meet in ports and on ships or whom you help on board during those long months at sea'.

These words were addressed by Pope Benedict XVI to the participants of the XXIII AoS Congress held in the Vatican City, November 19-23, 2012.

As a matter of fact, for more than 90 years the Catholic Church, through the Work of the Apostleship of the Sea with its network of chaplains and volunteers in more than 260 ports of the world, has shown her motherly care by providing spiritual and material welfare to seafarers, fishers and their families.

As we celebrate Sea Sunday, we would like to invite every member of our Christian communities to become aware and recognize the work of an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million seafarers who at any time are sailing in a globalized worldwide fleet of 100,000 ships carrying 90 per cent of the manufactured goods.

Very often, we do not realize that the majority of the objects we use in our daily life are transported by ships criss-crossing the oceans. Multinational crews experience complex living and working conditions on board, months away from their loved ones, abandonment in foreign ports without salaries, criminalization and natural (storms, typhoons, etc.) and human (pirates, shipwreck, etc.) calamities. Continue reading

Sources

• Vatican Information Services
• Image: Sunshine and Sails
• Apostleship of the Sea NZ (Inc)

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

Sources

• Marist Messenger
• Image: Apostleship of the Sea GB

New ports built far away from the cities, fast turnaround of the vessels and the limited time to come ashore, often make the seafarers invisible to the society, unless a pirates' attack or a shipwreck happens and they are in the news for a short time.

However, seafarers and their families are not invisible to God and to the Church. Their hard work, difficulties and sufferings have been recognized for more than ninety years through the pastoral care offered by the chaplains and volunteers of the Apostleship of the Sea.

We see the seafarers as professionally qualified workforce, capable of performing their job often in very dangerous situations among them pirates' attacks and the unknown force of the stormy waters.

We see the seafarers working in substandard conditions on board of old and rusted vessels, victims of criminalization, abandoned and often with their salary not given on time or withheld.

We see the seafarers as people docking in foreign lands in need of a welcoming smile, a word of consolation and support, a transport to the city, a place to relax without being discriminated for their nationality, colour of the skin or belief.

We see the seafarers as family members, forced to live far away from loved ones and friends for many months in a row, sharing the limited space of the vessel with other crew members of different nationalities.

We see the seafarers as individuals manifesting with simple actions their deep trust in God, seeking guidance and strength by attending masses and prayer services and in silent prayers.

Through the annual appointment of Sea Sunday we would like that our Christian communities and the society at large first of all recognize the seafarers as human beings who contribute to make our life more comfortable and to give thanks for their work and sacrifices.

Furthermore we should increase the awareness of the importance to provide them with protection from abuses and exploitations. For this reason we renew our appeal that the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) be ratified as soon as possible to guarantee full protection and decent working conditions to the more than 1.2 million seafarers around the world.

Then, I would like to renew my invitation to attend the XXIII World Congress of the Apostleship of the Sea, which will be held at the Synod Hall in the Vatican City, from 19^th to 23^rd November 2012, with the theme: New Evangelization in the maritime world (New ways and means to proclaim the Good News).

During those days we will gather together with AOS Bishop Promoters, chaplains and volunteers to reflect on the challenges that the new maritime enviroment (international multireligious and multicultural crews) is bringing to the Apostleship of the Sea to make disciples of all the nations of the world.

Finally, I invoke the Blessed Mother, Star of the Sea, to extend her maternal protection to the people of the sea and guide them from the dangers of the sea to a secure port.

• Antonio Maria Card. Vegliò, President
• + Joseph Kalathiparambil, Secretary
• Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
• Image: The Catholic Travel Guide

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