Singapore has opened a new call in centre at the Pasir Panjang Terminal decision to cater for the 20,000 seafarers calling at the terminal each month.
The facility was officially opened on Tuesday by Captain M Segar, assistant Chief Executive (Operations) of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
The opening was held to coincide w ith the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) ‘Day of the Seafarer’ on 25 June 2019.
Managed by the Mission to Seafarers (MTS), the new drop-in centre will provide a wide-range of facilities and services for the seafaring community.
These include free Wi-Fi, computers with internet, telephone service, light refreshments, reading materials, and entertainment such as TV, soccer table and dart boards.
There will also be an on-demand shuttle service, where seafarers can reserve a seat on the bus to the drop-in centre, on top of scheduled bus services.
The 36 square-metre facility will open daily from 10am till 10pm, and is the second international drop-in centre managed by MTS.
There are currently three other drop-in centres located at Jurong Port, Keppel Terminal and Pasir Panjang Terminal Building 1.
At the event, MPA also distributed a grant of SGD 150,000 ($110,892) in total to the Apostleship of the Sea, the Danish Seamen’s Church, the International Lutheran Seafarers' Mission, the Mission to Seafarers Singapore, and the Norwegian Seamen's Church to support their wide range of welfare services for seafarers, ranging from ship visitations to counselling services and pastoral care at the mission centres.
In 2010, the IMO designated the 25 of June as the ‘Day of the Seafarer’ to recognise and celebrate the contributions of the 1.5m seafarers worldwide.
The IMO has set the theme for this year’s ‘Day of the Seafarer’ as ‘I am On Board with gender equality’, focusing on the importance and contributions of women in a wide range of maritime careers especially in seafaring.
MPA chief executive Quah Ley Hoon said: “Women seafarers only make up 2% of the total number of seafarers sailing the high seas while just a third of global shore-based maritime positions are filled by women.
“We need to do more to bridge this gender gap by bringing greater awareness of this profession to the masses.
“MPA, working with partners such as the Singapore Maritime Foundation, is working hard to attract more people to join the sector which offers plenty of opportunities regardless of their gender.”
Tuesday also saw the MPA, together with Jurong Port (JP), PSA, the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU), and the Singapore Organisation of Seamen (SOS) jointly present 600 gift hampers to ships calling at Singapore.
“The hampers containing food and gift items have been put together to encourage bonding and promote the well-being of seafarers. The hampers will reach about 9,000 seafarers as an appreciation for their contributions,” the MPA said.
