Welfare Officer, Trainer (Maritime Students) and Ship Visitor – Chennai, India

The Mission to Seafarers seeks a Welfare Officer, Trainer (Maritime Students) and Ship Visitor based in Chennai, India.

This full-time consultancy role combines student welfare support at the Indian Maritime University with ship visiting at the Port of Chennai. You’ll provide counselling and support to maritime students, design and deliver training on wellbeing, resilience and suicide alertness (SafeTALK), and visit ships to offer spiritual, emotional and practical support to seafarers. You’ll work with port chaplains, welfare organisations and port authorities to ensure continuity of care.

Chennai Port is the largest port in the Bay of Bengal and the second largest container port in India, handling more than 60 million tonnes of cargo annually with direct connectivity to over 50 ports worldwide.

Candidates should have a strong background in pastoral care, chaplaincy or social work, with experience in educational environments. A Bachelor’s degree in Nautical Science, Marine Engineering, Social Work, Psychology or related field is required. Fluency in English and Hindi is essential, with Tamil desirable. Applicants must have the right to live and work in India and hold a full, clean Indian driving licence.

Please see the attached Appointment Brief for more details.

To apply, please submit your CV (no more than two A4 pages) and a Cover Letter (no more than 500 words) outlining your interest in the role and how your experience matches the person specification. Submissions should be emailed to [email protected], titled ‘Application – Welfare Officer – [Name of Applicant]’.

Closing date for applications: Monday 9 February 2026 at noon.