Caring for Seafarers

Dublin Port Company Caring for Seafarers

Dublin Port Company distributed 500 care packs to seafarers in 2020 as a way to thank them for their service during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mid-2020 saw Dublin Port Company begin to deliver the first of 500 care packs to international seafarers as a thank you for their frontline service during the coronavirus crisis.

Due to the pandemic, many members of ships’ crews had lengthy enforced extensions to their time onboard cargo vessels. Crews can typically spend up to six months at sea at a time, away from family and home.

300 care packs were distributed amongst the crews of more than 27 individual vessels which arrived into Dublin Port. The packs contained essential toiletries, including disposable razors, soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand cream, hand soap, lip balm and a nail brush. The first care packs were given to the crew members of the Victorine, which docked in Dublin Port in June, having completed a voyage between Rotterdam and Dublin as part of a service operated by CLdN.

Dublin Port Seafarers’ Centre

The remaining 200 care packs were held by the Dublin Port Seafarers’ Centre and given to the sailors who availed of its services during the summer and autumn.

The Seafarers’ Centre was opened in 2016 following a €500,000 investment from Dublin Port Company as a vital resource for ships’ crews. It provides amenities such as access to free Wi-Fi, a vital commodity so that seafarers can easily contact family and loved ones while ashore. The Centre supports over 7,500 visiting seafarers a year,

Pictured delivering the care packs to seafarers are Rose Kearney, Manager of the Seafarers’ Centre (left); Harbour Master, Michael McKenna (in car), and Reverend William Black, Port Chaplin from the Mission to Seafarers (right).

The first care packs were given to the crew members of the Victorine, which docked in Dublin Port in June, having completed a voyage between Rotterdam and Dublin as part of a service operated by CLdN.

arriving from all over the world, typically from countries such as India, China, Ukraine, Russia, and the Philippines.

The Centre also brings together two long-standing traditions in caring for seafarers in Dublin, the Anglican Mission to Seafarers (The Flying Angel) and the Catholic Apostleship of the Sea (Stella Maris). Both organisations operate together under one roof at the Seafarers’ Centre, providing spiritual guidance and friendship to seafarers of all faiths, and those of none.

Providing an essential service

Speaking as the first care packs were distributed in June, Harbour Master Michael McKenna said, “We at Dublin Port felt like these crew members needed to be acknowledged. They have gone above and beyond in recent months, working during this public health emergency and being confined to their vessels, and these packs are a token of our appreciation for the essential service they provide. It’s because of them that we have food on our table and other essentials at this time.”

Reverend William Black, Port Chaplin from the Mission to Seafarers, explained how “Looking after seafarers and their basic needs is a huge part of what we do at the Centre and we are blessed to be given the opportunity to assist them. They are the essential workers that we all rely on, but not everyone gets the opportunity to see. We wish them well on their homeward journeys and thank them for their service after what has been a difficult time for so many.”

Distributing the care packs was the most recent in a long line of initiatives that “shows that we are caring for the seafarers, and we always have done, in good and bad times”, Reverend Black noted.

The Covid-19 pandemic meant that the Seafarers’ Centre had to close its doors for the first time since opening in 2016, but its volunteers are still available to help seafarers in need, as Reverend Black explained: “In normal times we are open to offer them help, and we are always available on our mobile phones. Sometimes we have to deal with sad events, such as fatalities in their families, but that is what we are there for, to try to help and make a difference in good and bad times. A lot of these people might get phone calls saying that something bad has happened at home, perhaps somebody died, and that could be thousands of miles away, so we try to help them to keep in touch with their families.”

A tough world for seafarers

Rose Kearney, Manager of the Seafarers’ Centre, said, “It is our pleasure to look after these crew members in any way we can. It is a tough world for seafarers, and they have now been away from their families and loved ones for even longer than expected because of the coronavirus. Anything we can do to make their lives a little easier is no problem at all, we are very grateful to them. We hope the packs can give them a bit of comfort before they make their way home.”

The restrictions on movement meant that incoming seafarers couldn’t avail of the city’s amenities like they may have been used to, and they were particularly happy to receive the care packs: “They were delighted with the care packs, the quality of the goods in them and the fact that thought had gone into the necessary and useful products that were in the care packs,” Rose revealed.

Both the Mission to Seafarers and Stella Maris have a long history in Dublin Port, helping to care for seafarers. The Port has been a part of Rose’s life for decades.

“I love the busyness of the Port,” Rose revealed. “The people who work here are wonderful, from Dublin Port Company to the hauliers driving the trucks; it really feels like a family. Dublin Port has always loved its seafarers, appreciated them and treated them with respect. And the seafarers in return are very appreciative of what we do for them.”

Reverend Black agreed: “People often ask me why I spend so much time the Port and I always answer that I spend time here because the seafarers give so much of their time for our benefit. Being an island country, as we are, we depend on seafarers and couldn’t survive without them and their work. From your television to your cornflakes, the bus or tram you travel on, all of those are brought into the country by seafarers.”