Stella Maris launches Tanzania operation as Red Sea pressure rises

The largest ship visiting charity Stella Maris recently inaugurated a new operation to support seafarers and fishing communities in the port city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

Representatives of local seafaring and fishing communities joined the Archbishop of Dar es Salaam and representatives from the Kenyan Port Authority in Mombasa at a ceremony to mark the occasion in late June. 

Kenyan national chaplain Father Patrick Musumbu, who has lived in Tanzania for seven years, is leaving parish he has built there to lead Stella Maris in Dar es Salaam. He will work with a team of volunteers as part of a network including neighbouring centres along the East and South African coast. Their work will also take them into local fishing communities and to the island of Zanzibar.

Assisting in establishing the Tanzania team, Stella Maris’s Jonathan Heard said more seafarer support is vital on Africa’s East Coast as it feels the impact of Red Sea diversions. 

“Our new mission opens at a time when seafarers need additional support with the rising numbers of vessels diverting here to avoid the Red Sea,” he said, “Not only does this mean more crews passing through the region; it also means that seafarers face being at sea significantly longer – sometimes months longer – than they anticipated.

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“When seafarers spend very long periods of time at sea without adequate stops to rest and recuperate and without seeing anyone from outside their immediate crew, they are more likely to experience mental and physical health problems, and feelings of isolation and loneliness.”

The charity will offer a range of services to seafarers, from friendship and a sympathetic ear to free Wi-Fi connection, arranging medical help, and offering spiritual support regardless of faith or religion. The new operation will fall under Stella Maris’s East and Southern Africa network, one of eight regional networks the charity operates around the world. 

Jonathan Heard explains: “Our regional networks are coming together to share information and expertise and to advocate for seafarers and fishers in this part of Africa. Being part of a regional network means that we’re not waiting for a problem to arise in port. Instead, we’re communicating with our colleagues in neighbouring countries to understand the needs of a ship’s crew or an individual seafarer and preparing to offer the right type of support, in-person, when they arrive in our port.”

Stella Maris is the official maritime charity of the Catholic Church and has a global network of more than 200 chaplains and 800 volunteers and support staff available in 353 ports across 57 countries.

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