Seamens Church News

John “Jack” J. Gallagher, a maritime industry veteran and environmental services pioneer, passed away on Monday at the age of 89.Jack’s greatest professional passion was his work as a Spill Manager/Qualified Individual, a role in which he had few peers. Jack was known to be fiercely committed to doing everything morally possible to protect his clients, while at the same time doing all within his power to protect the environment. He attended and helped shape the outcome of more maritime casualties and oil spills than can be remembered.Over the course of his long and fruitful career…

With Maritime Labor Convention (MLC), 2006 in force, one might expect to see a reduction in the number of seafarers without visas; yet, recent data collected by the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) shows that not only are shipowners failing to pay for crewmember visas as required by the Convention but also flag states are failing to enforce the requirement. Shore leave significantly improves seafarers’ health and the safe and efficient operation of a vessel. The SCI’s Center for…

The Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) announces the recipients of awards it will confer at its 37th Annual Silver Bell Awards Dinner in New York City on Thursday, June 5, 2014. SCI presents the Silver Bell Award, in recognition of outstanding leadership in the maritime community, to Orrin H. Ingram, President and CEO of Ingram Industries and Chairman of Ingram Barge Company and honors Captain James (Jim) McNamara, former President of the National Cargo Bureau, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Silver Bell Award recipient Orrin H.

With a new simulator in full operation, SCI helps mariners complete assessments previously only available in large class settings or in the real world when exact conditions could be met on the water. The simulator offers affordable one-on-one assessments to help meet individualized training goals, obtaining credentials for licenses, and radar recertification. For mariners applying for new jobs, it allows them to demonstrate skills to the company. www.seamenschurch.org (As published in the March 2014 edition of Marine News - www.marinelink.com)

In the early nineteenth century, the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) lodged its mission to seafarers in a floating chapel in the waters of the Port of New York. SCI prioritized “mobile” spiritual care, meeting mariners where their work brought them. Today, SCI chaplains remain just as agile, climbing gangways and riding tender vessels to reach mariners on board busy ships. This month, however, SCI steps up its mobility to bring chaplains’ messages wherever there is an Internet connection, launching a new blog called CHAPLAINSBLOG (http://chaplainsblog.seamenschurch.org).

Taking over the reins from Eric K. Larsson, former Director of the Seamen’s Church Institute’s (SCI) Center for Maritime Education, Captain Stephen Polk now commands SCI’s advanced training program for mariners. SCI appointed Polk, a USCG Licensed Captain and US Navy veteran, to begin work as Director earlier this month. Captain Polk has logged thousands of hours on SCI’s advanced simulators training professional mariners and in the classroom helping them evaluate complex situations.

The Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) has published Preliminary Guidelines: Post-Piracy Care for Seafarers, outlining preliminary strategies on caring for seafarers (merchant mariners) affected by piracy. The document, based on cutting-edge mental health research and ongoing discussions with shipowners, crewing agencies, representatives of governments, and other stakeholders in the industry, provides practical guidelines for the maritime industry. SCI presented the Preliminary Guidelines to Working Group Three of the United Nations Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia on January 27, prior to the Plenary Meeting of the Contact Group the following day.

The Reverend Jacques Girard and Megan Sanders of the Seamen's Church Institute deliver an invocation of prayer while Coast Guard Sector New York's color guard maintain a silent vigil during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Mariner's Memorial in Battery Park, N.Y., honoring mariners who have perished at sea on Mariner's Day May 19, 2009. The Seamens Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, founded in 1834, is affiliated with the Episcopal Church. Chaplains visit an average of 3…

The Rev. Michael Hammett, the newest addition to the staff of the Ministry on the River team of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), said that he wants to make a big poster that reads, “Your chaplain is here for you.” After completing a two-week chaplaincy training program in Houston, TX, the Louisiana native began work last month, overseeing a ministry to workers on America’s inland waterways in the lower Mississippi River region. Hammett has worked inside and outside the walls of churches as an ordained United Methodist Church minister for 25 years.

Some important announcements were made during the 9th Annual River Bell Awards Luncheon at the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) Center in Paducah, KY. Leaders from Ingram Barge Company and AEP River Operations revealed that their companies would lead the effort to fund important upgrades to the simulators in Paducah. Upgrades to the Center’s simulation Center come on the heels of significant funding from West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board in August of this year. All computer hardware, software and radars will be replaced and the geographical databases will be updated.

Members of the commercial community of the Port of Houston, America’s second largest Port in terms of total tonnage, met last week in support of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI). At the Fourth Annual Maritime Training Benefit Luncheon, the area’s leading maritime transportation companies assembled for a fundraiser at the Institute’s training center in Houston. The October 22nd event raised over $77,000 for SCI’s Center for Maritime Education, which provides training for thousands of professional inland captains and pilots. An area hit in September by destructive Hurricane Ike, many operations in the Port sustained damage from the powerful storm, including SCI’s Center located within the 25-mile-long complex.

document. the international community," said Douglas B. Center for Seafarers' Rights. Organization to develop the seafarers' identification document. addressed to Secretary Ridge. 212-349-9090.

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Merchant Mariners? When the public's attention is preoccupied with the 9/11 anniversary and with sword rattling about a pre-emptive strike on Iraq, how do merchant mariners enter our consciousness? The simple answer is that they don't. To most Americans, merchant mariners are out of sight and out of mind, despite our absolute dependence upon them in peace and in war. More than ninety percent of everything that we consume in our peacetime global economy - from our morning coffee to the car that takes us home from work - has traveled on a ship. The vast majority of international trade with the United States is on foreign flag ships with foreign crews. Our military depends on both American and foreign merchant mariners to sustain their operations.

BlueWater & Associates, Inc. 1054 Bel Marin Keys Blvd. Novato, Calif. Contact: Terry M. Michael A. BlueWater, established in 1994, specializes in assisting the maritime industry, terminals, pipelines, electrical power, and other industries with their safety, environmental, and emergency readiness programs. Known as BwebTraining, the program offers a unique, manager-enabled approach to web-based training. Through any Internet connection, students can complete narrated, interactive classes conducted by experienced trainers. Already in use by industry, the BWebTraining program includes a comprehensive suite of over 20 interactive courses designed to be customized to your Facility, Operation, and Needs.