Some Thoughts on Sea Sunday by Clark Houltram
This Sunday is Sea Sunday, this Sunday we celebrate those manning ships that bring products to New Zealand and around the world. Since Covid took hold in March last year Seafarers have suffered more than most mainly because they have not generally been able to get shore leave while in port. Some 50,000 ships and over 200,000 seafarers have been affected. Most New Zealand ports banned seafarers from leaving their ship after they arrived even though they had not been exposed to Covid or in most cases had been at sea longer than the required quarantine period. Even crew changes were banned. In Tauranga providing services, support and nurture to seafarers is undertaken by the United Seafarers Mission (USM), which comprises three founding mission members: Mission to seafarers (MTS, Anglican), Apostleship of the sea (AoS, Catholic) and the Galilee Mission. Originally seafarers welfare in Tauranga had three separate organisations providing this support; the Flying Angel (now Mission to ...