Remember our Seafarers

This holiday season, let’s remember those toiling on the high seas, who make ocean cargo shipping the key symbol of globalization.

It’s lonely and often dangerous work, done by professionals who – for the most part – remain background players in the worldwide distribution network. Without them, however, the backbone of the supply chain would surely crumble.

There’s one organization that means to change all of that: The Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI).

For many years now, SCI has been promoting the safety, dignity and improved working environment for the men and women serving in North American and international maritime workplaces. Founded in 1834, the Institute is a voluntary, ecumenical agency affiliated with the Episcopal Church.

Annually, its chaplains visit thousands of vessels in the Port of New York and New Jersey, the Port of Oakland, and along 2,200 miles of America’s inland waterways extending into the Gulf of Mexico. SCI’s maritime education facilities provide navigational training to nearly 1,600 mariners each year through simulator-based facilities located in Houston, TX and Paducah, KY.

The Institute and its maritime attorneys are recognized as leading advocates for merchant mariners by the United States Government, including the US Congress, the US Coast Guard, and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the United Nations, the International Maritime Organization, the International Labor Organization and maritime trade associations.

To learn more about this vital resource, readers are encouraged to visit: The Seamen’s Church Institute - Meet the Mariners We Serve.