PR-011-2021
Establishing links with
Melbourne seafarer help centre
The Philippine Consulate General of the Philippines has established links with Mission to Seafarers Victoria (MtSV), a more-than-a-century old, church-based non-profit organization in Melbourne, offering practical, social and welfare support for the seafaring community.
Consul General Ma. Lourdes Salcedo and Deputy Consul Generaal Anthony Mandap visited the mission last Wednesday, March 24, upon the invitation of MtSV officials. They were welcomed by Ms. Sue Dight, MtSV chief manager; Rev. Onofre Punnay, the Filipino Anglican chaplain; Rev. John Sanders; Mr. Ian Fletcher, MtSV board member; and Mr. John Lines, principal of the Australian Shipping Group.
MtSV traces its roots to Bristol, England, when the Seamen’s Mission was formed in 1837. The first Australian mission was started in 1856. The first mission building in Melbourne was constructed in Sandridge (now Port Melbourne) in the late 1800s. Between 1915 and 1919, the building complex was built at its present location in the Docklands suburb.
The complex now consists of a chapel (the Memorial Chapel of St. Peter), club rooms, and administration area, the Chaplain’s house, a small cottage, and the iconic Norla Dome. The complex was an architectural masterpiece of its time and now a historic landmark in the city.
According to the Mission officials, nearly 49 percent of their recent clients consist of Filipino seafarers disembarking from as many as seven ports in Metropolitan Melbourne. Before COVID-19 set in, the mission received nearly 8,600 seafarer clients yearly, assisting them with various needs ranging from transport, communication, shopping and recreation, as well as money remittance services.
Consul General Salcedo thanked the Mission’s administration for all the help they have been extending to seafarers. “The Philippines has a large seafaring community, and they benefit from these programs and your advocacy support for seafarers in general,” she said.
For their part, MtSV officials vowed continuing support for the seafarers and their families and advocacy for better working conditions and a stronger regulatory regime.
