Tyne

Connecting families

Port chaplain Paul Atkinson and his pastoral team use a system called HSDPA, or High Speed Download Packet Access, to offer seafarers a broadband connection onboard their ships. When ship visiting, they take onboard a laptop and modem which they set up in the ship's mess or some other place agreed by the master. The crew can then drop in to use it at their convenience.

The seafarers use the broadband connection to contact their families. Many use services such as Yahoo Messenger which allow live chat. Paul and the team also provide a webcam so that seafarers and their families can talk "face to face".

The crew of the car carrier Höegh Manila particularly appreciated this service when Paul visited their ship in April this year. Built in Cebu in 2007, the Höegh Manila is able to carry more than 5,000 cars. It calls at the Port of Tyne every three months bringing Nissan cars from Kobe in Japan. The Höegh Manila is larger than the Titanic but has a crew of just 24. The average length of a crew member's contract is nine months.

Captain Dan Anjare has known the AOS Tyne team for some years. He emailed Paul in advance of the ship's arrival asking him to come onboard. Turnaround times are tight for car carriers in the Port of Tyne. The Höegh Manila arrived at 6.00am and was due to leave at 17.30. Paul went onboard in the early afternoon and stayed almost until it was time to sail. Numerous members of the crew came to use the laptop.

The webcam facilities meant that seafarers were able to introduce Paul to their families most of whom are in the Philippines. Given the high numbers of Filipino men and women who leave their families to seek work abroad, communications technology is very important with Internet access available in even the smallest towns. One seafarer on the Höegh Manila used his mobile phone to call his wife to tell her to come online.

For another crew member, there was a particularly precious moment. Thanks to the webcam, he was able to see his baby daughter who was born while he was away at sea. Paul reports that seafarers were coming up to shake his hand to thank him for enabling them to connect with their families in this way. He said

"To see the absolute joy on their faces, it almost brings a tear to the eye".

Christmas 2007

On Christmas Day port chaplain Paul Atkinson and his wife Kathleen visited the ship King of Scandinavia. They arranged for a Mgr Ronnie Brown, a trustee of AOS GB, to say Mass and afterwards distributed Christmas gifts to the crew.