Every year, around 1,500 cargo ships, 1,000 cruise ships, and numerous trawlers visit ports in New Zealand, with over 230,000 crew working on these vessels.Most seafarers are from the Philippines and South India, with large Catholic populations, and China and Russia.

Stella Maris is tasked with the ministry of providing the facilities and services these seafarers need when they come ashore for a well-earned rest from their duties on the ship. Stella Maris is also responsible for providing pastoral support to the Catholic seafarer.

Cargo vessels arriving in ports receive a visit from a ship visitor, welcoming the crew to NZ. Ships receive portable Wifi so seafarers can contact home after weeks at sea, and the services provided at the local Seafarer's Centre are explained.

At a seafarers’ centre, crews receive a warm Kiwi welcome and have a place where they can relax while taking short leave. Free tea and coffee are available, and wifi connectivity is available. We also offer currency exchange and transportation to the city for shopping and sightseeing.

If seafarers want to have Mass on board a ship or to attend Mass, we organise this for them.

At times, the work contract of the seafarer may be breached, such as nonpayment of wages or failure to repatriate at the end of a work contract.

Stella Maris will work to ensure the rights of the seafarers are upheld, working in cooperation with Maritime New Zealand and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) to secure redress for the seafarer.

Stella Maris has been specifically tasked by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People for the care of “The People of the Sea”. The Church recognises the often difficult and exploitative work conditions under which seafarers and fishers work and seeks to provide the necessary support to ensure the well-being of the People of the Sea.

While Stella Maris supports all seafarers regardless of religious affiliation,

nationality, race or gender, it is also specifically tasked with the pastoral care of the Catholic seafarer and fisher. When a Catholic brother or sister arrives in a port on a ship or trawler, Stella Maris is there as the representative of the local church to welcome them, as an expression of the church’s universality - these visitors are not strangers but are part of the local church while present in our diocese.

The ministry of Stella Maris to seafarers can be supported in several ways:

by donations to our work, fundraising, knitting beanies for seafarers, and donating warm jackets, shipping companies fail to inform their crews that New Zealand is cold in the winter. We also need volunteers who can spare a few hours to help staff the local seafarers centres, especially in the evenings and weekends, and to visit ships where this is allowed.

In October 1920 in Glasgow Apostleship of the Sea (now known as Stella Maris) was established to support seafarers in need. 100 years later, we are the largest ship visiting network in the world, providing seafarers with practical and pastoral support, information, and a friend in times of need, with 1,000 chaplains and volunteers in 330 ports across 60 countries from New Zealand to the UK.

Seafarers as a workforce are integral to our lives in New Zealand, from the coffee we drink to the cars we drive, all have come here by ship. 95% of NZ imports and exports are via the sea. We simply cannot survive without the valuable work seafarers do.

After weeks at sea, months away from their families, and often labouring in

challenging and dangerous work conditions, receiving a warm welcome on arrival in NZ is deeply appreciated by the seafarers who visit NZ ports.

Seafarers regularly praise the work of Stella Maris, often saying,

"We thank God for you and all the assistance you give us. We love coming to New Zealand because we know you genuinely care for us.”