SCI’s Center for Mariner Advocacy (CMA) Director, Phil Schifflin, Esq., attended the Fifth Meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee established under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006) at the ILO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland from April 7-11, 2025. Representing SCI as a member of the International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA) Delegation, Schifflin was one of […]
Read MoreThe Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, SCI’s President & Executive Director, moderates Seafarer Panel at CMA-Shipping 2025. The 40th edition of CMA Shipping, among North America’s leading maritime industry conference, was held from April 1–3 in Stamford, CT. This annual event brings together key maritime professionals, providing a vital platform for insight, networking and in-depth discussions on […]
Read MoreSCI’s Center for Mariner Advocacy (CMA) Director, Phil Schifflin, Esq., attended the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Human Elements, Training, and Watchkeeping (HTW) sub-committee meeting in London from February 10-14, 2025, serving as an expert advisor on mariner issues for the U.S. delegation. During the meeting, he participated in a working group focused on a comprehensive […]
Read MoreThe 40th edition of CMA Shipping, North America’s leading maritime industry conference, will be held from April 1-3 in Stamford, CT. This annual event gathers key maritime professionals, offering a platform for networking and discussions on industry challenges. The Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) will once again participate, with the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, SCI’s President & […]
Read MoreThe Center for Mariner Advocacy (CMA) consistently steps in to defend the rights of seafarers facing unfair treatment. A recent case highlighted this commitment when an Indian seafarer was connected to CMA through the assistance of a local seafarer center. His father, battling lung cancer, experienced a serious decline in health, prompting the seafarer to […]
Read MoreSCI’s Phil Schifflin, Esq. recently participated in the third meeting of the Joint ILO-IMO Tripartite Working Group to Identify and Address Seafarers’ Issues and the Human Element (JTWG3) as a representative of the International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA). The meeting focused on the criminalization of seafarers, who may be unjustly treated as criminals for performing […]
Read MoreYesterday marked the opening of the “Joint ILO–IMO Tripartite Working Group to Identify and Address Seafarers’ Issues and the Human Element” in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the third meeting of this particular ILO (International Labour Organization) and IMO (International Maritime Organization) group, and it is dedicated to discussing and developing guidelines for the fair treatment […]
Read MoreRemembering the Galaxy Leader Crew’s Ongoing Detention We recently passed November 19, 2024, which marked the one-year anniversary of the Galaxy Leader crew’s detention by the Houthis in Yemen. These 25 seafarers—17 Filipinos, two Bulgarians, three Ukrainians, two Mexicans, and one Romanian—were simply carrying out their duty, transporting critical cargo across the seas to support […]
Read MoreAt SCI’s Center for Mariner Advocacy (CMA), we regularly engage in discussions focused on mariner health and safety. Recently, the U.S. Coast Guard commissioned the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) to study the role of alcohol use in the maritime industry and its impact on related incidents. In response, NAS initiated a study titled “Prevention, […]
Read MorePhil Schifflin, Jr., Esq. Director, Center for Mariner Advocacy Recently, the Center for Mariner Advocacy has been frequently assisting U.S. Coast Guard personnel who encounter mariners in problematic situations aboard foreign-flagged vessels. Although our advocacy work has mainly involved blue-water and brown-water mariners, my predecessor, Doug Stevenson, and I have previously assisted and trained Coast […]
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