Seafarers draw on vital support from port chaplains

Photograph by Helen Sampson - Seafarers of different faiths and no faith rely on support from port chaplains in coping with what is often dangerous work in challenging institutionalised workplace settings, research from Cardiff University has found. On board ship, religious beliefs and attitudes are kept private but seafarers revealed to the team the ways in which many who do have a faith construct their own set of religious beliefs in order to cope better with living and working conditions. The study, led by the Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC) and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), investigated the faiths and welfare of seafarers on board two cargo vessels carrying multinational crews. The researchers also spent 6 months in two UK ports studying the work of port chaplains, paid staff and volunteers all of which provide welfare services to seafarers of all faiths in dedicated seafarers' centres. They heard about the extraordinary lengths people delivering these services go to in order to support seafarers despite shortfalls in funding. Many chaplains described how they spent half of their time fundraising in order to deliver services effectively. Professor Helen Sampson, Director of the Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC) at Cardiff University, explained how: "Seafaring is an extremely dangerous occupation and we found seafarers had experience of feeling very afraid on board a ship at some point in their career.