About AOS GB

Pastoral care

AOS offers pastoral care to seafarers. We deploy chaplains, ship visitors and pastoral workers to ports around Britain. In larger ports, pastoral teams are based in seafarers’ centres. Elsewhere they may have small offices or portacabins within dock areas. However with pressure to move ships in and out of port as quickly as possible, seafarers may not have time to come looking for us. Therefore AOS takes a pro-active approach, going out to greet the seafarers.

AOS GB national director Captain Paul Quinn meets a seafarer in the port of South Tees

Ship visiting

AOS visits seafarers on their ships. With very few exceptions, pastoral workers are welcomed onboard. They work to gain the trust of seafarers, listening to them and accepting them. If seafarers’ rights are being abused, AOS can liaise with the appropriate authorities on their behalf. However we recognise that officers may be under huge pressure with responsibility for the lives of the crew and for ships and cargo worth many millions of pounds. Where there is tension onboard, AOS can be a mediating presence.

We offer practical services as required, for example

• arranging access to telephones and Internet
• providing transport to seafarers’ centres, shops and local amenities
• selling international phone cards at the best rates available
• distributing books, DVDs and news from seafarers’ home countries
• distributing warm clothes, toiletries and treats donated by our supporters
  

Felixstowe ecumenical seafarers' centre

click here to read more about seafarers’ centres
click here to read more about AOS volunteer drivers
click here to read more about knitting for AOS

Hospital and prison visits

Sometimes more personal care is necessary. If seafarers are admitted to hospital or detained by police while in port, their ships must usually leave without them. AOS pastoral workers visit such seafarers bringing practical assistance and companionship and helping them to communicate with their families.

Ships which breach international law may be arrested and held in port. AOS pastoral teams visit the crews of arrested ships who are effectively prisoners onboard, unable to come ashore.

click here to read how AOS supported the crew of an arrested ship

click here to read how an AOS befriended two seafarers in prison

AOS port chaplain Louise Carter in the port of Plymouth

AOS and spirituality

The Apostleship of the Sea is part of the Catholic Church. Our motivation is our belief in human dignity. AOS is a founder member of ICMA, the International Christian Maritime Association. In common with our ICMA partners, we are committed to serving all seafarers and their dependants regardless of nationality, religion, culture, language, gender or race.

We recognise that all seafarers have spiritual needs whatever their backgrounds. This may involve participation in established religious ritual or simply needing the time and space to contemplate life. AOS offers support to seafarers in their spiritual lives. Seafarers’ centres always have a chapel or multifaith prayer room. Where possible we will arrange for transport to places of worship or contact with religious ministers.

click here to read about Mass onboard ship in Teesport

click here to read how AOS offered pastoral care following a tragic accident at sea

The hand of friendship

We never seek to impose our views on seafarers but instead encourage them to maintain their own moral values. After weeks of loneliness and isolation onboard, seafarers may have a strong need for comfort and social contact when they come into port. In many ports, drugs, alcohol and prostitutes are easy to find. Making the wrong moral choice can threaten not only health but also self esteem, reputation and family relations.

AOS tries to alleviate the loneliness of seafarers by extending a hand of friendship. Seafarers’ centres are safe places for socialising and relaxing. By offerring transport from ships to local facilities, we help seafarers to avoid the dangers of docks and unknown areas.

AOS pastoral teams always offer a listening ear to seafarers, approaching them as friends, acknowledging their humanity. Seafarers play a vital role in the world economy. AOS is committed to ensuring that their human dignity is respected and their rights upheld.

click here to read about charity and the Catholic Church on the AOS international website

click here to read about ICMA on the AOS international website