Sea Sunday is an annual opportunity to pray for the work of Mission to Seafarers, and this year crewmembers from the Philippines and Myanmar joined the congregation at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney.

The visit lent a nautical, as well as multicultural, flavour to the service on the second Sunday in July. Bible readings were in Mandarin and Tagalog. Mission to Seafarers’ principal chaplain, the Rev Un Tay, who is fluent in five languages, welcomed the crew members. 

Mr Tay, a former pastor and church planter, said he took on the chaplaincy because he wanted a “sea change… I have a floating congregation and I'm the floating pastor,” he told the congregation. 

The mission operates in more than 50 countries to provide a haven for mentally and physically exhausted seafarers. Chaplains and volunteers welcome and provide a listening ear on land, in hospitals and on board ships for those who can’t leave their vessels. 

More than 6000 seafarers from over 60 nations visit the Mission to Seafarers’ Centre in Sydney each year.

Asked to list three needs of the ministry, Mr Tay said, “First, the need for Mission to Seafarers is to pray, second is also to pray and the third is to pray for us! This is a spiritual ministry. Without the prayers of the saints, we would not survive.”