Megan Sanders News

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…

In response to recent, high-profile incidents of piracy off the coast of the East African nation of Somalia, the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), an ecumenical agency affiliated with the Episcopal Church, launches new efforts to increase awareness of the effects of piracy on its mariner victims post-attack. These efforts include the submission of a resolution to the International Maritime Organization earlier this month, a church-relations campaign, and the draft of an open letter to international governments and the maritime industry. “SCI is concerned that the effects of pirate attacks on seafarer victims and their families are not well understood and that few resources exist to care for piracy victims,” said Douglas B.