Sailors’ Society launches crisis centre and wellness programme
Seafarers will now be able to receive 24-hour assistance and trauma counselling.
SURVIVORS of piracy attacks and other sea disasters will now be able to receive 24-hour rapid response and trauma counselling at a new centre which was launched by the Sailors’ Society last Wednesday.
The Crisis Response Centre, situated in Westville, was initiated by Sailors’ Society, one of the largest seafarer support charities that operate internationally. The centre will provide support to seafarers in need throughout sub-Saharan Africa. A comprehensive network, including trained port chaplains from a variety of maritime welfare agencies, will offer their services in South Africa, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique and Reunion.
The centre was launched together with the Sailors’ Society Wellness at Sea programme on the same day. Reverend John (Boet) van Schalkwyk, who will head the crisis centre, and Johan Smith, project manager for the Wellness at Sea programme, met with journalists at a round table discussion held in partnership with the International Maritime Lecturers’ Association prior to the launch to elaborate on the benefits of having such projects and the challenges faced by seafarers and victims of piracy.
Van Schalkwyk said, “The centre was developed in response to an evolving trend in seafarer demand. We were finding that traumatised crews were no longer being dispatched to Durban after their release, which raised fears that they may be repatriated before receiving first line trauma counselling. By making this recourse available, we can meet this need for seafarers as soon after an incident as possible.”
The service will reach traumatised crews by flying in a mobile call-out team to assist local chaplains to care for the victims of piracy and other incidents at sea in the western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Guinea ports. Chaplains will then liaise with other emergency personnel to provide to team service.
In a media release issued by the Sailors’ Society, it stated that the recent Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) report on the State of Maritime Piracy indicated that at least 5 000 seafarers were attacked in the Gulf of Guinea, the western Indian Ocean and southeast Asia in 2014.
The crisis centre, situated at Sailors’ Society South Africa’s headquarters in Westville, is based in suite six, Westville Centre, 52 Norfolk Terrace, Westville. The centre will also conduct research into the continuing activities of pirates on the east and west coasts of Africa as well as provide ongoing trauma care training for chaplains.
In regards to the wellness programme, the course will focus on social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual wellness. Smith said, “A seafarer’s experience of life at sea, their reactions to incidents on board or how they steer a ship are all related to the seafarer’s make-up as an organised whole, as a holistic, multidimensional and unique human being. The neglect of the holistic, multidimensional human side of seafaring has come at a hefty price and this programme goes a long way in addressing the shortcomings of the past.”
For more information on the centre or wellness programme, call 031 266 0695, the 24-hour emergency response number on 083 301 8022 or e-mail wellness@sailors-society.org.
