Global Maritime Charity Stella Maris – Apostleship of the Sea – is standing by the seafarers that suffer and deal with challenging conditions during Christmas, many of them remaining unknown throughout the year.
Overall, the Organisation and ship visitors in Great Britain and around the world put great efforts through Christmas to ensure that crewmembers are provided with pastoral and critical support.
The Charity presents a recent incident they had to deal with, when Stella Maris helped the Kenyan crew of a vessel who had no access to food and water, while receiving death threats from the ship owners. In sight of this incident, the charity arranged a visit with the local church and is now cooperating with colleagues to solve the situation.
Martin Foley, Stella Maris European Regional Coordinator commented that
This will be a hugely stressful time for not only the crew but for their families back home too. Christmas can be a lonely time for many seafarers, without family around, but for those caught up in such awful circumstances, the effect upon their mental wellbeing is huge.
In the meantime, the previous week, Stella Maris chaplain in South Africa was informed of a fishing vessel that was arrested in port with six seafarers onboard who remained without food and water. Also, the Charity reports that they remain unpaid for a few months now.
The local charity provided to the seafarers emergency food and water supplies.
Martin added that
Sadly, situations like these are not unfamiliar with Stella Maris port chaplains and ship visitors, as the charity’s Life at Sea Report – the second edition of which will be published next year – has shown.
In summer, the Charity’s John Green, Director of Development expressed their concern over the welfare of the crew of the ship and also the crew of the Stena Impero who were detained by the the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.