{"id":4226,"date":"2020-07-08T18:17:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T17:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.missiontoseafarers.org\/?post_type=news&#038;p=4226"},"modified":"2021-04-14T12:14:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T11:14:51","slug":"an-update-from-lyttelton-seafarers-centre","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.missiontoseafarers.org\/news\/an-update-from-lyttelton-seafarers-centre","title":{"rendered":"An update from Lyttelton Seafarers\u2019 Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5>When the Covid-19 lockdown started at the end of March in New Zealand, the Lyttelton Seafarers\u2019 Centre closed its doors like many other seafarers\u2019 centres world-wide.<\/h5>\n<p>\u201cIt looked like the shore based welfare link for seafarers was severed,\u201d says the Rev John McLister, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.missiontoseafarers.org\/about\/our-people\/port-chaplains\">Mission to Seafarers\u2019 chaplain<\/a> in the port of Lyttelton.<\/p>\n<p>However, a number of developments in April have seen Mr McLister return to work and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.missiontoseafarers.org\/lyttelton\/\">Lyttelton Seafarers\u2019 Centre<\/a> reopen. Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) advised ports that seafarers entering NZ were considered essential workers; and if their ship had been 14 days or more coming to NZ and had no health issues, crews were allowed shore leave.<\/p>\n<p>MNZ also informed ports that port chaplains were to be considered essential workers; and ports were to facilitate their access to vessels. MNZ also stressed the importance of ensuring seafarers had internet connectivity while in port.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the situation in some ports hasn\u2019t changed much, even after MNZ advice, in Lyttelton, we\u2019ve been up and running for a couple of weeks now,\u201d says Mr McLister.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this is due to the good relationship we have with the Lyttelton Port Company (LPC) and their appreciation of the plight of seafarers arriving in the port.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A number of measures have been introduced in Lyttelton to meet seafarers\u2019 welfare needs during the Covid-19 lockdown period:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The port pilots give each ship a flyer with the Seafarers\u2019 Centre information and the services that can be provided.<\/li>\n<li>The Mission to Seafarers\u2019 chaplain visits ships &#8211; to the top of the gangway &#8211; and provides the crew with a portable wifi unit that up to 15 people can use.<\/li>\n<li>Personal shopping items can be purchased online at the local supermarket or thorough the chaplain who delivers purchases to the ship.<\/li>\n<li>Free SIM cards are provided for seafarers who request them.<\/li>\n<li>The Seafarers\u2019 Centre is now open for crews eligible for shore leave.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cLyttelton is the home port for three large factory trawlers and we also have one from the port of Nelson here for repairs,\u201d says Mr McLister. \u201cEach has a crew of about 80 guys, so that\u2019s 320 Russian and Ukrainians in port at the moment. Normally, there are crew changes at the beginning of winter, but with the Covid-19 restrictions, the trawler crews are going nowhere. We\u2019ve had over 200 visits from them to the Centre in the last<br \/>\ntwo weeks and we\u2019re changing thousands of dollars for them, as there is no bank here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the Seafarers\u2019 Centre\u2019s volunteers stood down until New Zealand\u2019s Covid-19 restrictions drop to safe levels, Mr McLister has been very busy. \u201cI\u2019ve had to put in a few 12 hour days,\u201d he says. I try to drop the wifi unit to the ship before 10 am and pick it up after dinner, so the crew can use it during breaks and meal times. If they want some shopping, I\u2019ll do that in the late afternoon. In the evenings, I open the Seafarers\u2019 Centre for the trawler crews, as that is when they come ashore after a day\u2019s work. Without our volunteers who normally staff the Centre in the evenings, it has become a 10 am to 10 pm job, seven days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To alleviate Mr McLister\u2019s workload and to help provide the standard of care crews need, the Lyttelton Seafarers\u2019 Centre Charitable Trust has approved an increase in the work hours of the Centre\u2019s part-time welfare worker Glen Estrada. \u201cWe have offered Glen 30 hours a week,\u201d says the<br \/>\nRevd Tina Thorpe, treasurer of the Trust. \u201cPreviously Glen was funded through the Christchurch City Council\u2019s Strengthening Communities Fund to open the Centre on the weekends. Now he can open the Centre on other nights of the week and between him and John we\u2019ve got most bases covered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this is a generous commitment by the Trust,\u201d says Mr McLister. \u201cIt is a nonprofit, charitable organisation with limited funding sources, but without this commitment, dozens of seafarers would end up on the street corner outside the local library trying to connect to the free wifi. We had this situation a few years back and we don\u2019t want to return to guys standing in the cold at night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In support of the work the Lyttelton Seafarers\u2019 Centre is doing, the ITF Seafarers\u2019 Trust has funded the purchase of an electric vehicle for the Centre to help reduce fuel costs, facilitate ship visits, do shopping for seafarers, and transport crew when needed. \u201cWe are extremely pleased,\u201d says Mr McLister, \u201cIt has made our job so much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the Covid-19 lockdown started at the end of March in New Zealand, the Lyttelton Seafarers\u2019 Centre closed its doors like many other seafarers\u2019 centres world-wide. \u201cIt looked like the shore based welfare link for seafarers was severed,\u201d says the Rev John McLister, the Mission to Seafarers\u2019 chaplain in the port of Lyttelton. However, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4228,"template":"","acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.0 (Yoast SEO v22.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An Update From Lyttelton Seafarers\u2019 Centre | The Mission to Seafarers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get the latest information relating to the status of seafarers services that are available in Lyttelton on the back of the Covid-19 outbreak...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.missiontoseafarers.org\/news\/an-update-from-lyttelton-seafarers-centre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An update from Lyttelton Seafarers\u2019 Centre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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