The Seamen’s Church Institute, along with Seafarers International House, proudly co-hosted the 2024 North American Maritime Ministry Association (NAMMA) conference in September in Newark, NJ. SCI President and Executive Director, the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, welcomed the 125 delegates with a speech focused on the issue of “Sea Blindness.” He explained how advances in containerization have led to seafarers—who play a crucial role in global commerce—becoming less visible to the general public as ports have moved away from cities to more remote coastal areas. Additionally, Phil Schifflin, Esq., Director of the Center for Mariner Advocacy, offered his insights on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, with a particular focus on recent developments concerning mariner abandonment and criminality.

SCI Team attending NAMMA (from left): Evan Brown (Director, Communications), Matthew Morse, Esq. (Director, International Seafarers’ Center), the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt (SCI President and Executive Director), Michelle McWilliams (SCI Chaplain), Phil Schifflin, Esq. (Director, Center for Mariner Advocacy), the Rev. James Kollin (SCI Chaplain), the Rev. Dr. Bill Allport (SCI Chaplain).

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The conference also featured prominent speakers, including Bethann Rooney, Ports Director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Cardinal Joseph William Tobin, Archbishop of Newark; and keynote speaker “tik-tok-famous” Sister Monica Clare from St. John Baptist in Mendham, New Jersey. Attendees enjoyed a New York Harbor cruise aboard a New York Pilot Boat, along with a visit to SCI’s International Seafarers’ Center, where they gathered for an evening of worship and fellowship.

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“Identifying Sea Blindness:” view the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt’s opening remarks at the NAMMA conference below.

“Yet this transition from port operations from Lower Manhattan to the marshlands of New Jersey also contributed to that phenomenon we all know of as “sea blindness,” where seafarers are no longer seen by the general public, and thus become increasingly invisible and underappreciated.”

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“Updates to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006:” View Phil Schifflin’s remarks at the NAMMA conference below.

“I have not yet met someone in seafarer welfare who doesn’t do a good job ministering to the needs of seafarers. What I would say is, if you become more legally aware, you could do it even better.”