{View as Webpage}

MARINERS DEPEND ON SCI &

SCI DEPENDS ON YOU...

IN THIS ISSUE – May 2024

• SCI Welcomes New Ministry On The River Chaplains
• Responding to Industry Needs: Inland Maritime Needed SASH Training and CME e-Learning Delivered
• The 2024 Spring Lookout
• Center for Mariner Advocacy Selects 2024 Intern

Photo: Jacki Horman

Thank You To Our Corporate Sponsors

SCI Welcomes New Ministry on the River Chaplains

Chaplains Nancy Simpson (picutred above) and Geoffrey Davis (below), meeting with mariners in Houston. April 18, 2024.

New Ministry on the River (MOR) chaplains have recently joined The Seamen's Church Institute, continuing its vital mission of supporting inland and Gulf Coast mariners. The Rev. Geoffrey Davis, stationed in New Orleans, LA, commenced his role on April 1, covering the Lower Mississippi and Gulf Coast regions. The Rev. Nancy Simpson, based in Houston, TX, began her duties on April 8, overseeing the Houston Ship Channel and Texas Gulf Coast. Both join the Rev. David Shirk, based in Paducah, KY, who oversees the Upper Mississippi and Ohio River region. Together with a network of Chaplain Associates spanning 14 states, they enhance the Institute's outreach and support to mariners.

 

Learn more about Chaplains Simpson and Davis here.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

Thursday, June 13, 2024

6:00 pm: Registration & Cocktails 

7:30 pm: Dinner & Awards

The Seamen’s Church Institute is excited to gather friends, supporters, and colleagues from across the maritime industry at the 46th Annual Silver Bell Awards Dinner. We are proud to honor:

SCI's purpose and practice—to serve the mariner—are made possible through the support of our generous Silver Bell Awards Dinner Sponsors, and we remain extremely grateful to our donors.

For more information on this event or to participate as a sponsor, contact SilverBell@seamenschurch.org or call 202-719-8057.

Responding to Industry Needs: Inland Maritime Needed SASH Training and CME e-Learning Delivered

From the 2024 Spring Lookout Magazine.

In December 2022, Congress enacted the Safer Seas Act (SSA) to tackle sexual assault and sexual harassment (SASH) in the maritime sector. One of the stipulations was to mandate that U.S. flagged vessel owners and operators provide instruction on SASH awareness and training to their employees. Knowing that maritime training content was in our wheelhouse, a few Center for Maritime Education (CME) clients reached out and asked us to collaborate on a training module in compliance with this particular portion of the SSA. In the fall of 2023, CME began working and, in April 2024, launched its first SASH training module to its clients, one that is compliant with SSA requirements. 

 “Producing this training was a customer request, born out of frequent discussions between American Waterways Operators (AWO) members and at meetings throughout 2023 in response to new regulations,” notes CME Business Relations Coordinator Lisa Nally. “So, we then reached out to some of our other clients to gauge interest in a new course, and they made their need clear.”  

Lisa, along with Jonathan Burson, CME e-Learning Manager, started the process by gathering insight from HR and legal compliance experts in the industry. SCI’s Center for Mariner Advocacy Director, Phil Schifflin, was called, along with Hannah Lewis, Health and Safety Director at Golding Barge Lines, and Reis Prevost, Manager, Environmental, Health, Safety & Transportation at Enterprise Marine Services, to assist in creating the course. Development went quickly; starting in November of 2023, the training module took approximately two months to finalize. “We had great guidance and response from Phil and our industry subject matter experts,” Lisa noted.  

CME now includes this SASH training as part of its comprehensive online library of courses. This module, like all of CME’s e-learning, offers testing and certification. “The course needs to cover the regulation, so it has to both teach and present proof of compliance,” said Jonathan. “We’re confident that it meets the industry’s needs.” 

“This particular course was meaningful for us.” Jonathan continued. “No mariner should ever feel afraid or threatened on the job, and helping mariners and companies understand these rights and obligations within the workplace is vital course content.”

This course was not CME’s first foray into human-resource-related content. Jonathan points to the modules e-Learning created during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to regulatory changes around hygiene. “We do our best to keep our eye on trends and regulations and look for opportunities to collaborate with clients because CME wants to create courses that are useful and accessible to mariners and the companies we serve, whether that training is on or off the boats.” 

You can also visit seamenschurch.org/sash-reel to see the promotional video for CME’s e-Learning SASH course.

Click here to learn more about SCI's Center for Maritime Education.

THE 2024 SPRING LOOKOUT

The 2024 Spring Lookout is now out. Some of our stories are featured in this newsletter, but you can read more about our Center for Mariner Advocacy's work at the International Maritime Organization, our new Chaplains at the International Seafarers' Center in Port Newark, teaching mariners at the Center for Maritime Education, and more.

You can read the magazine online here, or download the PDF. More SCI news can be found at seamenschurch.org/news

Center for Mariner Advocacy Selects 2024 Intern

Christopher “Kip” Loffler of Tulane Law School has been selected as the Center for Mariner Advocacy’s (CMA) summer intern for 2024. Kip will be the twenty-ninth intern to serve in this capacity, continuing a partnership between the Seamen’s Church Institute and Tulane Law School that began in 1993. CMA Director Phil Schifflin and Tulane Law School Professor Martin Davies have designed a program where Kip will spend the summer working with Phil Schifflin in New Orleans and Director Emeritus Doug Stevenson in New York.

Kip shares his thoughts on joining CMA: “I have always been fascinated with the water and the ships upon it. This fascination led me to attend the United States Merchant Marine Academy, where I received a degree in Maritime Logistics and Security. In addition to my degree, I received my Coast Guard license as a 3rd Mate of Unlimited Tonnage Upon Oceans. It was also at the Merchant Marine Academy where I was first exposed to the exciting field of maritime law, and that is what inspired me to attend Tulane Law School. I was thrilled to find the opportunity with the Seamen’s Church Institute to combine my love for the maritime field with my love for the legal field. I am excited to be working with the CMA this summer, and I look forward to contributing to SCI’s mission.”

SCI looks forward to welcoming Kip in June.

Your donations make a difference!

 FROM THE SCI ARCHIVES 

On this date, US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop stated that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine. Full Disclosure: SCI distributed a lot of tobacco to seafarers over the years, well before Koop made his statement. Pipe and cigarette tobacco went into Christmas at Sea packages and were distributed to seafarers attending Christmas events at SCI's 25 South Street.



This photo of seafarer T-bone Alfred McBride with his pipe ran on the cover of the September 1962 issue of The Lookout following his death.

SCI's CORPORATE SPONSORS

Sustaining Sponsors

Supporting Sponsors

In-Kind Sponsor

Engage in the Conversation

If you received this newsletter as a forwarded email from a friend or colleague or regularly receive our emails and would like a complimentary subscription to our print magazines, please click on the button below to complete an online subscription form.