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Sailors' Society goes virtual with Chapplaincy smartphone app

Sailors' Society goes virtual with Chapplaincy smartphone app
Seafarer welfare is normally associated with ship visits and drop-in-centres, but charity Sailors’ Society has moved into the virtual world with a smartphone app.

The punningly named Chapplaincy has been developed with Augustea Group and MarineTraffic and enables real-time activity reporting and maintains a history of ship visits and support provided to seafarers.

The app will initially be available on the android operating system and will be used by Sailors’ Society ship vistors and chaplains around the world.

“Chapplaincy revolutionises the way that our chaplains work with seafarers, allowing them to respond more quickly and follow up with a seafarer’s friends and family even after the ship has sailed,” said Sailors Society chief executive Stuart Rivers.

“With better communication, we hope to identify faster some of the issues that affect seafarers such as stress, poor mental health and fatigue and so reduce the risks to safety, as well as increasing efficiency and retention rates for shipowners.”

In the second development phase, the charity is working to make it available to other welfare agencies and developing a version for seafarers.