Seafarers Move Global Trade - And Christmas Gifts

On a balmy December evening, four Indian crew members, eager to go explore this Mediterranean city where their container ship docked for a few hours, turned for help to Stella Maris.

- AP

BARCELONA - On a balmy December evening, four Indian crew members, eager to go explore this Mediterranean city where their container ship docked for a few hours, turned for help to Stella Maris. It's the largest of the faith-based organizations that minister to seafarers in hundreds of ports around the world.

"We just call them, they help us with everything," from connecting with far-away families on video to changing currency to delivering small Christmas gifts, said second officer Sunit Kamal.

And they donate Bibles in different languages too, the 33-year-old added in the organization's small lobby next to a statue of Mary, one of whose ancient titles is "star of the sea," or Stella Maris in Latin.

Whether it's offering religious services, helping address labor abuses, or something as practical as serving as a delivery spot for Amazon packages, faith leaders and volunteers don't see their work as charity.

Rather, their ministry is a way of affirming the human rights of the seafarers who keep global trade moving, often for low wages and in harsh conditions far from most people's view - even in such popular tourist hotspots as Barcelona.