Harbored

Serving the world without leaving the wharf by Cathy Norman Peterson | November 4, 2019

A row of buildings fronting the wharf at Boston Harbor hides the colossal cruise ship, as well as the water, though you can still smell the sea. The Norwegian Gem, one of the largest ships of the Norwegian Cruise Line, arrived in port  early on a recent Friday morning after a week in the Caribbean, and the passengers and crew have not yet begun to disembark. At the end of the long terminal, next to a bank of still-working pay phones, the cream-colored door to the New England Seafarers Mission (NESM) nearly blends into the wall. Above it, a giant arrow points passengers “TO SHIP.” A smaller sign welcomes seafarers to the mission, which is operated by the East Coast Conference of the ECC. More than 100 cruise ships carrying more than 300,000 passengers come into port at the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal every year. According to Cruise Market Watch, the cruise ship industry took in $45 billion in revenue in 2018.

It is a lucrative business made possible by the often unseen and unrecognized work of the thousands of crew members on board. Cruise ships are often referred to as “floating hotels,” and they require an army of staff to clean, cook, maintain the ship, and serve the guests. Seafarers work long days, seven days a week—they may vacuum as many as 400 rooms a day or fold towels in the bowels of the ship for 14 hours straight. Sometimes the job requires four hours on, then two hours off, which can wreak havoc on a body’s biorhythms. Those seafarers are the reason the oldest continuous ministry in the Covenant continues to operate. Begun in 1880, five years before the denomination was founded, the New England Seafarers Mission serves ship workers—officers, guest services staff, cooks, custodians. From as many as 167 countries, 25,000 staffers of ships come through the mission each year. NESM began with a layperson, a former sailor, who worked the waterfront, visiting Scandinavian crews from ships that called into Boston. Today, Stephen Cushing serves as its chaplain and executive director, overseeing the primary site on the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal in Boston Harbor and a smaller branch in Providence, Rhode Island. Once the passengers are off the Gem, the crew can go ashore, and Scott Hamby, chief finance officer on the ship, stops by the mission. Hamby began his career at sea by responding to a job ad, even though he’d grown up in a landlocked part of Texas. When the hiring manager asked about his maritime experience, he replied, “I’ve never even seen the ocean.” She laughed so hard she hired him on the spot. He started working two weeks later. The biggest challenges in his work aren’t the long stretches away from home, Hamby says. “I’m single, and I have family nearby who take care of my house,” he says. The challenge is staying grounded while “living in a bubble,” referring to the surreal nature of life on board. “Like every job, there are good days and bad days. But in this job the bad days take place in exotic locales,” he says.   Begun in 1880, five years before the denomination was founded, the New England Seafarers Mission serves ship workers—officers, guest services staff, cooks, custodians. From as many as 167 countries, 25,000 staffers of ships come through the mission each year.   Most of the crew who share Hamby’s bubble, however, have few opportunities to escape the demands of their jobs. Cruise lines get around labor laws (as well as tax laws and safety regulations) by registering their ships and businesses in countries with looser restrictions, such as the Bahamas or Bermuda. The common practice of “flying a flag of convenience” means cruise lines don’t have to abide by U.S. laws, even if they operate out of U.S. ports and carry U.S. passengers, according to a recent report in Business Insider. The Norwegian Cruise Line, for instance, is headquartered in Miami,