A home far from home

For his last voyage on the “New York Express”, the now retired Captain Uwe Fiedler had planned a very special project: The very Spartan onboard gym was to be completely modernised and made into a place to feel good and relax. Since it was impossible to organise everything while at sea, Fiedler turned to the mission to seafarers in New York. “When I heard about the plan, I was immediately eager to help,” says Reverend Arnd Braun-Storck at the Seafarers International House (SIH). “From flooring to wall decorations to mirrors, there was a comprehensive shopping list.” After emptying out their van, the team went to a retailer and then spent several hours gathering all the items on the list. “In the end, even some plants made it onto the ‘New York Express’,” he adds contentedly. An unusual assignment, but that’s what makes the missions to seafarers worldwide so special: They are always ready to listen to seafarers worries, needs and wishes – and to try to help them as individuals. The SIH, for example, has been around since 1873. Although originally affiliated with the Lutheran Church, it hasn’t made any distinctions between denominations for years. “No matter what your faith is, you will always need someone there who you can talk with about everything,” Braun-Storck explains. “It’s often about feeling lonely, about being separated from your family. If a child’s birthday is missed or if divorce becomes an issue because of the long voyages at sea, then we are the unbiased person from outside who can providecomfort and assistance.”

SOMETHING SPECIAL about the mission in New York is the ability to stay in rooms. “This offer is very popular among seafarers at the beginning or end of their careers,” Braun-Storck notes. “We are by their side with advice and assistance during the transition between life stages.” Also popular are the options to be driven to malls or to order goods online and have them delivered to a mission to hold on to. The latter is particularly important in Rotterdam. “In our case, the port is far outside the city, so it’s hard for the seafarers to disembark and get things on their own, especially with today’s short berthing times,” says Severin Frenzel from the German Seamen’s Mission here. “But, first and foremost, we are available for conversations and we take our time for one-on-one interaction,” Frenzel continues. “For us, it’s important that seafarers can reach us directly, whether by mobile phone, SMS, messenger apps or email. We often discuss in advance when we will come on board and what we can do or bring for the crew. These can be small things, like bug spray or reading glasses, or even a winter jacket and a new phone battery.”

THE MOST IMPORTANT thing for Frenzel and his colleagues is facilitating social contact. To do so, they regularly organise sightseeing tours and beach walks. Sometimes they even keep in contact with seafarers whose ships no longer call at Rotterdam. Close interaction and good cooperation with the other branches of the German Seafarers’ Mission is also part of their job. “We once had the case of a seafarer who had bought a SIM card at another mission, but it couldn’t be activated, so the man was completely cut off from his family,” Frenzel recounts. “When we got the news, we immediately drove out to the ship – only to discover that it was anchored offshore, so we couldn’t go on board. Then we spent several days working to get the card activated with the help of a local company and the hotline of the SIM card operator. The seafarer expressed his gratitude by saying: ‘I will never forget that you didn’t give up. Thank you!’” As Martina Platte from the German Seafarers’ Mission in Hong Kong knows, seafarers’ missions also serve as a place of retreat. “Seeing other faces for a change, being able to switch off in the clubhouse, and enjoying some peace and quiet means a lot to them,” the mission’s chaplain says. Shorter berthing times in port are making
these kinds of stays more valuable. Even for short periods of time – whether at six in the morning or late in the evening – the mission tries to make it possible to stay at the club.

IN FACT, one seafarer enjoyed it so much that he completely lost track of time. “He had withdrawn to a quiet corner for a phone call and then realised that he’d missed the closing time,” Platte recounts, adding with a grin: “He woke me up in the middle of the night with his shouting and knocking. We quickly made contact with the ship, and everything still turned out fine in the end.” Platte says that “being flexible and spontaneous is simply part of the job for us.” After being in charge of the seafarers’ mission for 27 years, nothing can surprise this German; whether missed ships, fights, seafarers sleeping on the street in front of the building, she’s seen it all.

THE CLUBHOUSE in Hong Kong is a place to land in the truest sense of the word, but it’s also for seafarers who often have a lot of time to kill before boarding their next ship. “They can sleep off their jet lag or get some food, and there’s also a shower they can ask to use,” Platte says. But that’s not all that this seafarers’ mission has to offer: For example, guests can take a boat from the Mariners’ Club for brief local excursions, and another boat serves as a “shore to ship” shop that supplies crews with sought-after items. Jörn Hille, chaplain of the German Seafarers’ Mission in the Harburg borough of Hamburg, which also runs the “Duckdalben” international seamen’s club, explains how important it was to have someone to turn to during the pandemic. “We made thousands of visits to hotels where people were being held,” he says. “The health authorities had ordered them in German to remain in quarantine for two weeks, and they didn’t understand a word of it. We would then arrive in
full body suits and give them cigarettes and soap. And then we had to negotiate with the health department about where they could go to smoke.”

EVEN WITHOUT these special challenges, Hille continues, seafarers are exposed to immense pressure – such as lengthy assignments, lots of overtime, being far from their families, and having no shore leave – all of which increase psychological pressure and the frequency of conflict among the crew. Hille sees Hapag-Lloyd as a role model in this regard, saying: “You pay reasonable rates, and people are regularly allowed to go ashore. Your ships aren’t cheaply built, and I’ve never heard any complaints about the food.” He knows of other examples in which wages aren’t paid, captains scream at their crews, or there are problems with the drinking water. In such cases, the seafarers’ mission acts as an independent complaints office that intervenes, attempts to find solutions, and offers psychological support. A team of around 120 permanent employees, trainees and volunteers is on hand in Harburg to provide seafarers with all kinds of assistance. Hille is particularly proud of the colourful mix, saying: “From former customs officers to students to a retired doctor and a water police officer – it’s all there.” This allows the mission to act flexibly and for everyone to play to their strengths, Hille continues, adding: “And we hardly ever have to say ‘no’. We
always think about how we can make it work. We want the seafarers to feel comfortable with us and to express their needs. For us, the most important thing is their dignity.”

MISSIONS TO SEAFARERS WORLDWIDE
Seafarers’ missions trace their roots back to England in the early 19th century and are believed to have been started by the Anglican priest John Ashley. As industrialisation progressed, shipping became enormously more important – and the number of seafarers’ missions grew. Today, the Catholic seafarers’ mission Stella Maris alone has over 300 stations in 60 countries, the Mission to Seafarers is active in around 200 ports, and the Protestant German Seafarers’ Mission currently operates 33 stations in and outside of Germany.