Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
In this issue
Directors Log Typhoon Stories
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Enviroguides Translations
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Shore Leave
The romantic notion of traveling the world has inspired countless people to find work on the water. Life at sea is better, said Sir Francis Drake, a man who must have thought so after spending three years on a ship, circumnavigating the globe. But todays mariners do not have an easy time of it. They put much of their personal life on hold to pursue a profession that leaves them separated from family and friends for large periods of time. But, so what? some say. A lot of folks have difficult jobs. Yes, there are many who work very hard, and each day sees a host of professionals who make sacrifices for the benefit of the world. The conflict develops when people feel they are owed the benefits they receive from the labor of others. When folks say, Its not as if theyre doing it for free, they speak truth; however, just because individuals receive compensation for their labors doesnt mean they dont also deserve thanks and support for what they do. Many Americans would not think twice about supporting an organization that offers aid to our countrys military personnel, who
make enormous personal sacrifices as they serve. And, certainly, no one would deny that our servicemen and servicewomen should also get paidpay that can help them build decent lives for themselves and their families. Life as a mariner provides great opportunities to work as a highly skilled professional and to earn good wages for hard effort. The world did not always run this way, however. In the past, crimps kidnapped people and forced them to work on board ships. And even legitimately employed seafarers often had no recourse when refused fair wages or living conditions. Life at sea functioned under different rules. Through the years, the world of the mariner changed significantly because of agencies like the Seamens Church Institute (SCI). SCI has helped train, advocate for and support millions of mariners in its 180-year history. And today, maritime workers rely on the continued on page 2
Say thanks to a mariner by making a financial contribution to SCI today.
Houston Simulator
Ministries Collaborate
Why I Give
Founded in 1834, the Institute is a voluntary, ecumenical agency affiliated with the Episcopal Church that provides pastoral care, maritime education, and legal and advocacy services for mariners.
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The same security aimed at protecting our borders often denies seafarers services ashore, and the unrelenting pace of 21st-century commerce leaves little room for human events in busy professional lives. Today, the worlds mariners need support just as much as in former times. They need good training institutions. They need pastoral and spiritual care. And they need folks to stand up for them on land, where the laws that affect them get made. We cannot deem further efforts unnecessary. No patient, when he or she starts to feel better, stops taking antibiotics before finishing the full course of treatment. Nor does a musician, after writing a few movements of a composition, call the work a magnum opus. Neither can we, who have come so far, now stop on account of our successes. Instead, our successeswhich reveal what we can do when we work togethershould encourage us to bring to fruition the vision that motivates our work for the worlds mariners. Yours faithfully, continued from page 1 services they receive from SCI to help them navigate difficult situations, some of which have not changed since the advent of seafaring and some that have arisen in the dawn of our new technological age. As citizens of the world, supporting mariners makes sense socially and economicallysocially because our world relies on people working together for the good of many, and economically because healthy, happy workers make for a productive workforce. Supporting maritime personnel means choosing to acknowledge them and to say thanks for their contributionssomething we should do for people on whose hard work we depend.
Spring 2014 Volume 106, Number 1 Published by The Seamens Church Institute seamenschurch.org 212-349-9090 fax: 212-349-8342 sci@seamenschurch.org Richard T. du Moulin Chairman, Board of Trustees The Rev. David M. Rider President and Executive Director Editor, Oliver Brewer Assistant Editor, Susannah Skiver Barton Design & Production, Bliss Design The Lookout is printed on recycledpaper.
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any seafarers arriving in United States ports do not have visas that permit them to leave the ship on which they work, thus severely limiting their access to services available on land. As a result, things that most of us take for grantedemail, phone calls, bankinghave to be postponed until the next port of call in a different country, which could take weeks or months to reach. Because SCI port chaplains board each vessel as it comes into berthbringing with them phones, Wi-Fi hotspots, and money transfer forms seafarers can connect with family and friends at home following a long transoceanic journey. What about mariners who do have visas for the United States? Well, seafarers have to get from their vessel to the terminal gate. Sounds simple enough, but because of strict regulations about who can and cannot operate ground transportation inside ports, it isnt. Sometimes, SCI offers the only possible option of in-terminal transportation for seafarers wishing to stretch their legs, visit our seafarers center or go shopping. Without us, some of them might never get to do these things. And without the financial contributions of people like you, SCI would not be able to offer the onboard and transportation services that make such a difference in the lives of mariners.
Real people depend on SCIand on you for support. Give online today at http://donate.seamenschurch.org/give
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On July 23, 1997, Chief Humphrey Idisi seized the merchant vessel MVDubai Valour. Hit by severe weather off the coast of Durban, South Africa, the MV Dubai Valour, transporting used oil-drilling equipment from India to Chief Idisi, lost some of its cargo overboard. The insurance company representing the Dubai estimated the value of the lost equipment at approximately $200,000 to $250,000. Chief Idisi claimed that the loss was between $5 and $17 million. Chief Idisi, a tribal leader in Nigerias Delta region, held the ship and its Ukrainian crew hostage in an attempt to extort his demands from the shipowner. The shipowners insurance company eventually obtained an order by the Nigerian High Court to release the ship and the crew after posting $1 million security. Chief Idisi refused to obey the High Courts order and forcibly resisted attempts by Russian diplomats, acting on behalf of Ukraine, to serve the High Court order and release the crew. In September 1997, 23 of the crewmembers were released. The remaining four crewmembersthe master, chief mate, chief engineer and radio officerremained hostage on the ship in the port of Sapele deep in the Nigeria Delta region without proper medical care, access to food or clean water, or visitors for more than 18 months. SCIs Center for Seafarers Rights (CSR) became involved in the case in September 1998 at the request of the Secretary General of the United Nations who had received a letter from the wives of the Ukrainian hostages appealing for help. The CSR team
of Director Douglas B. Stevenson, Staff Attorney Nina Gupta, and Edda Kristjansdottir, Associate Attorney at the former international law firm Leboeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, spearheaded efforts to assist the shipowners attorneys. (Leboeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae provided extensive pro-bono support to CSR on this case.) The CSR team made numerous appeals to governmental authorities and nongovernmental organizations to gain the crews release, including filing cases on behalf of each crewmember to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The complaints alleged that Nigeriathrough Chief Idisihad violated several
In May 1999, shortly after Stevenson gave an advance copy of the complaint to the Nigerian High Commissioner in London, the MV Dubai Valour and its crew were released. The first message sent by the vessels master after sailing out of Nigerian waters was to Stevenson: Dear Mr. Douglas Stivenson, Please be informed that four Ukrainean seafarers, which had been 24 month without a break and shore leaving under illegal arrest on board MV Dubai Valour FOC of Malta flag in Nigeria are FREE and now ALL RIGHT! It is clear that our FREEDOM was allowed due to a series of action that had been organized by you and your crew staff. Best regards. All Ukrainian crew members. A. Shulgin, Master of the MVDubai Valour In a speech delivered in 1999 to the Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Stevenson reflected on the MV Dubai Valour case: While rejoicing that the men have returned home safe and free, we are ashamed that in this day and age, innocent seamen could be held hostage for a commercial claim in brutal conditions, deprived of their families, friends and normal living for almost two years in defiance of the rule of law and humanity while the law and the community of nations stood by powerless to come to their aid. Stevenson concluded with a call for all maritime nations to return to our roots in maritime law and refocus our attention on protecting the men and women whose workplace is the sea.
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international conventions including the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages (1979), Article 1; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), Article 11; and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. Early in 1999, CSR obtained approval from Malta, the MV Dubai Valours flag state, to file a case on its behalf to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg. The CSR team prepared a complaint against Nigeria alleging violations of the Law of the Sea Convention.
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Because SCI operates as a not-for-profit institution and therefore able to direct its resources toward benefiting the safety of mariners and communities everywherewe can offer practical and relevant training at affordable prices at our cutting-edge Center for Maritime Education campuses in Paducah, KY and Houston, TX. Your tax-deductible financial contribution helps mariners train and prepare for whatever might come their way.
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about SCIs work and how the church community can support it. Recently while visiting St. Pauls, Kempton told the story of deckhand Jarvise Shelton, recipient of the US Coast Guards Gold Lifesaving Medal for bravery and self-sacrifice. Jarvise hoped to advance in his career and train as a pilot, but hadnt yet had the opportunity. Moved by his story, the congregation created a special outreach grant called the Road to Damascus Award, enabling Shelton to undertake training at SCIs Center for Maritime Education later this year. As an extension of outreach in their neighborhoods and the world, Mariner Friendly Churches like St. Pauls in Henderson, KY partner with SCI in its ministry to mariners. Through prayer, volunteer efforts and financial support, faith communities around the country directly impact the well-being of men and women who work on the water. Read more about Mariner Friendly Churches on our website at http://www. seamenschurch.org/mfc or email churchrelations@ seamenschurch.org. Discover how your local faith community can support mariners across the globe.
Why I Give
Meet the congregation of St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Henderson, KY. ituated just four blocks from the Ohio River in the town of Henderson, KY, St. Pauls Episcopal Church stands as one of SCIs most faithful supporters and a beacon of welcome for inland river mariners. Since the founding of Ministry on the Rivers and Gulf (MOR+G) in the late 1990s, St. Pauls has actively participated in SCIs mission of service to the inland waterways community. St. Pauls parishioners not only collect and pack boxes for the Institutes distribution of hand-knit hats and scarves to mariners working at Christmastime, but before regulations prevented it, they even boarded vessels to hand-deliver the gifts in person. This Mariner Friendly Church finds other ways to support the maritime industry, too, like welcoming MOR+G Chaplain Kempton Baldridge to talk
Donate
Donate online at donate.seamenschurch.org or scan this QR code into your mobiledevice
Use the envelope in this edition of The Lookout or mail your check to TheSeamens Church Institute, 74 Trinity Place, Suite 1414, New York, NY 10006. Call 212-349-9090 and make a contribution over the phone with your credit card.
Volunteer
SCI offers many ways volunteers can contribute to the work of the Institute. Call one of our centers or email volunteer@ seamenschurch.org.
Follow
Go to http://facebook.com/ seamenschurch and clicklike. Follow @seamenschurch on Twitter. Check out our photos at http://www.flickr.com/ photos/seamenschurch/. And, watch videos from our work at http://vimeo.com/ channels/scitv. Remember SCI in your estate plans. Email legacygiving@ seamenschurch.org for more information.
Collect
In addition to handknit scarves and hats, SCIs Christmastime gift to mariners includes items found at most ordinary supermarkets donated by people like you. To find out more, contact cas@ seamenschurch.org or visit ourwebsite.
Sponsor
SCI provides prominent recognition to its underwriters. Become a corporate sponsor and link your companys philanthropy with North Americas largest and most comprehensive mariners serviceagency.