Royal Seal of appRovalThe Princess Royal paid a special visit to Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre during a recent visit to the city. David Kenwright, Chair of the Centre, describes the event.

Little did we realise when we first contacted the Civic Support Team at Aberdeen City Council to enquire if a member of the Royal Family would visit the Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre, to help raise our profile in the wider community, just exactly what would be involved. Initially, there was a visit by a member of the Royal Household with a police officer from the Political and Royal Protection Unit to view the Centre, ensure it was suitable, and determine if there were any security issues, but once we had been approved, and HRH The Princess Royal expressed an interest in visiting the Centre, things started to move very quickly.

A buffet lunch was arranged, and we invited around 40 people who had helped us set up the Centre, including some of the volunteers who do sterling work in staffing the Centre each evening, and importantly some seafarers who had been frequent visitors. When the great day arrived the shipping market was

particularly busy and unfortunately the invited seafarers were “all at sea”, however, the Chaplains persuaded a couple of Masters to release some of their crew to be present during the visit.

In addition to the local press, Tern Television who were filming the second series of “The Harbour”, were there to record the visit. They had already been featuring the work of the Chaplains and the Centre fairly regularly, so we were assured of the much needed publicity.

A tremendous success . . .

Everyone had assembled well before The Princess Royal was due to arrive and there was a very pleasant sense of anticipation. Everything was proceeding according to plan, until we received a phone call saying she would arrive early, and that the Lord Provost had been delayed and would be unable to be there in time to greet her. Fortunately, she was well prepared, knew

exactly who she would be meeting, and all about the Centre, and was interested in the progress that had been made in such a comparatively short time.

During the visit The Princess Royal spoke with everyone at the Centre, and took a great deal of interest in the work of the Chaplains and the volunteers, and was particularly keen to meet the seafarers, and had an animated and amusing conversation with the cook about his menus.

At the end of the visit, which had lasted much longer than originally planned, The Princess Royal made a short speech commenting on the importance of the Seafarers’ Centre, and the work of the Chaplains and volunteers, before unveiling a brass plaque to commemorate the event.

Without a doubt the visit was a tremendous success, we all felt that she had a genuine interest in seafarers’ welfare, and that she had fully engaged with everyone she met.

Following the publicity in the local press, and the screening of the episode of “The Harbour” in which the Centre featured, the support from local church groups, and local companies has increased and the Centre is on a much more secure financial footing. All this augers well for the future. Thank you all for the part you have played in making it all possible.

Chaplain’s WelcomeWelcome to this, the first of our new quarterly Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre newsletter - The Anchorage.

We hope that this will be of interest to many in the seafaring community - and beyond - as we seek to bring you snippets of information about life at the Seafarers’ Centre and the port of Aberdeen with a rich variety of content.

Enjoy your read, and do contact us with any comments or suggestions, and your views on the newsletter, indeed all your contributions are most welcome!

So from the Chaplains, ship visitors and volunteers who staff the Centre every evening, may we wish you safe sailing and haste ye back to Aberdeen and the Seafarers’ Centre.

Howard Drysdale Chaplain Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre

Issue 01 - SUMMER 2014Scottish Charity No. SC043560

Above: David Kenwright introduces Judy Middleton who presented a bouquet of blue and white flowers, representing the Centre’s colours, to the Princess Royal.

Above right: (from left to right) Chris Lloyd, Chair of Aberdeen Harbour Board, Trustee Jeff Mountain and David Kenwright chat to the Princess.

Photographs courtesy of Norman Adams - Aberdeen City Council

THE ANCHORAGEabeRdeen SeafaReRS’ CentRe

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bruce parker, Master of vos vigilant, talks about life at sea“I have been working in the North Sea since leaving school 27 years ago.

The last 18 of those years have been spent on board Emergency Response and Rescue Vessels (ERRV’s) and over that time I have seen a lot of changes.

When I started, the “standby” industry had a stigma attached to it, I felt we were always looked down upon, the poor cousin of the oil industry. Vroon Offshore Services have succeeded in changing all that. They have invested millions on new vessels to replace the older fleet and continue to do so, with 10 new builds due over the next year.

Crew welfare has never been better; when I started you could only talk to loved ones via a coastal radio station for all the world to hear. Now we have free internet access available to all crew and satellite television in all cabins. It’s not just crew welfare; crew health has improved also with the introduction of free lifestyle medicals, gymnasium equipment and quality personal protective equipment. This shows that investment has not just been on the vessels but in the crews as well.

Being a crew member on a Vroon Offshore Services vessel is a rewarding job and it can also be a career offering progression if you have the drive, determination and commitment. One example is Michael Nicholls who joined the Vos Vigilant when it was shiny and new, fresh from the ship yard in 2011. He started as a Fast Rescue Craft - Boatman/Deckhand and following training was promoted to Fast Rescue Craft Coxswain. He then gained his Efficient Deckhand Course, his A/B certificate and Daughter Craft certificate. In June 2013 he started studying for his Officer of the Watch certificate which he gained in February this year. It’s not just his own life he is bettering but the lives of his own family too and Vroon Offshore Services are committed to the welfare, training and promoting of crew on board their vessels. After all, without the crew the vessels would never leave port.

Some people think I’m crazy going away to sea for weeks at a time but when I’m on leave and see the neighbours leave to fight rush hour traffic every day, I smile to myself and wonder who the crazy ones really are. I love my work and sadly, not many people can say that in the world today.”

Doug DuncanPort Chaplain, Apostleship of the Sea (AOS)

As Port Chaplain here in Aberdeen for the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) I also cover the North-east coastal area providing prac t ica l and pastoral care to the seafarers who arrive on our shores.

In Mathew’s gospel 25:35 it highlights “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” and as Port Chaplain and a native of Aberdeen I feel it is only right that our seafarers feel welcomed when they arrive in Aberdeen and at our Seafarers’ Centre here in Market Street.

The AOS provides practical help and assistance such as newspapers in various languages, phone cards, clothing and information on the local surroundings We also provide pastoral care by way of Mass or Communion on board ships or even gentle prayer when requested.

In my time as Port Chaplain I have several stories which I hope we can share together over the coming issues. One I leave you with is meeting a Filipino seafarer who, having lost his daughter to a heart condition three years ago, learned his house had been severely damaged when Typhoon Haiyan tore through the Philippines. He had been at sea for four months and had a further five months of his term still to serve. He was supplied with some practical tools, including phone cards to call his family at home. I also gave him a bible in Tagalog and we said a little prayer together for him and his family - May God Guide You.

the apoStleShip of the Sea

QuaySide neWSAberdeen Harbour is Britain’s oldest existing business and has played an intrinsic role in the commercial success of the city over the past 878 years.

It is one of the UK’s busiest ports and the centre of activity for the energy industry’s marine operations in North-west Europe. With trading links to more than 48 countries across the world, the port is a key regional resource and a vital part of Northern Scotland’s infrastructure.

With a wide range of industry sectors contributing to record annual traffic figures, Aberdeen Harbour handles over 28 million tonnes of shipping and cargo exceeding five million tonnes, worth £1.5 billion. Activity at the port generates over £500 million to the region’s economy each year and helps sustain around 12,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

It recently announced plans to create additional berthing facilities at Nigg Bay and an independent report has estimated the economic benefit of the development to the local and national economies to be nearly £1billion per annum.

Vessel Name Vos Vigilant

Home Port Aberdeen

Owner Vroon Offshore Services

Type ERRV Field Support Vessel

Recent visit The Vos Vigilant has just completed to Port her first Intermediate Dry Docking in Leith. The vessel was built in 2011. She made a return to her home port of Aberdeen for her routine crew change. The Vos Vigilant services the oil industry in the North Sea.

the ShippinG neWS

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Meet Our VOlunteersAberdeen Seafarers’ Centre could not survive without the support and hard work of its team of dedicated volunteers.The volunteers, are of all ages and from all walks of life, but they have one thing in common - all have the wellbeing of every seafarer at heart, irrespective of colour, creed or religion.

It is thanks to the volunteers that the Centre is open each evening of the week throughout the year - including Christmas and other public holidays. Not only keeping the Centre open but always being on hand with a friendly face and welcoming cup of tea or coffee. Many of them have spent time at sea and understand the seafarers’ concerns and issues and their feelings of being far from home.

The volunteers also carry out ship visits, supplying visiting vessels with libraries of books and stocks of DVDs which will be changed out on a future visit to port. Christmas is a particularly important time around the Centre. Knowing that hundreds of sailors are in port, far from family and friends, the volunteers take time out of their own Christmas Day to dress as Santa Claus and his elves to deliver Christmas cheer - and gifts - to every vessel in the harbour.

In the coming issues, we will introduce you to some of our volunteers, to tell you their stories. In this edition, meet Judy Middleton and Charlie Reid and find out why they became involved with the Centre.

ChaRlie ReidThe eldest of six children, I was born in Fraserburgh but did not stay there for long. Indeed we did not settle down until we went to Rhynie to stay when I was 10. My father took over the bus service from Rhynie to Aberdeen, which he had until he retired.

My life seems to have been made up of segments, 1958 - 1965, Rhynie, my growing up informative years; 1965 - 1971, Merchant Navy, on deck mainly with Ben Line to the Far East, during which time I frequented many Seamen’s Missions in many great locations with Hong Kong and Singapore among my favourites.

From 1971 - 1991 I left the sea and joined the Northern Lighthouse Board, as a Lighthouse Keeper only to be replaced by a Micro-chip 20 years later (automation) having been a keeper at Bell Rock, Tiumpan Head (Isle of Lewis), Ailsa Craig (off of Turnberry, Ayrshire), then lastly seven and a half years at Girdleness until it was automated in 1991.

In 1991 I ran back to sea and was on oil related vessels (standby, Maersk anchor handlers, platform supply vessels) until last year when I retired, after being Bosun (in charge of the deck) on the Grampian Talisker for the previous four years.

Away from work, I was an Adult Instructor with the ATC (Air Training Corps) at Stornoway, Oban and Portlethen for 12 years and spent three and a half years as Officer Commanding 2489 Squadron, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen.

In 1974 I joined the International Plastic Modeller Society Edinburgh [IPMS] and have displayed and competed in many shows in the UK. Since 1988 I have concentrated in scratch building various types of oil related vessels and I’m also a member of the International Offshore Vessel Society (IOS), a group of 50 scale modellers worldwide who make radio controlled 1-50 and 1-75 scale models.

My wife Kathleen and I have two children Tracey, who lives in New Zealand with her husband Graeme and our three grandchildren and Paul who lives in Aberdeen with his partner Julie and her daughter Samantha.

I have been a volunteer since last year, looking after the books and doing ship visiting laden with boxes of 20 - 40 books which are usually changed out every six months. If you are interested in a book exchange, get in touch with us at the Centre.

Judy MiddletonIt was a steep learning curve for Judy Middleton when she married a seafarer, having been brought up in a non seafaring background. Her seagoing years started off with a baptism of fire when during her first trip to sea she landed up in the middle of the Yom Kippur war in Israel!But it didn’t put her off and she gave up work in Aberdeen to travel the world with husband Robbie on Fred Olsen’s UK registered bulk carriers. She’d no sooner done that when Robbie was transferred

to Olsen’s cruise liner/fridge fruit carrier MS Blenheim, trading to Madeira and the Canaries all winter and ferrying to Holland and Norway in the summer.

Daughter Claire started her seagoing career at the age of four months on Blenheim, allowed at sea because there

was a doctor on board in case of emergency. By the time her sister Sandra came along Robbie was in command of bulk carriers again and the whole family travelled round the world together completing Judy’s seven year on and off career as a seagoing wife and mother.

The family came back onshore in 1981 but the involvement with the sea continued both through Robbie’s work with Salvesen and Briggs Marine and his involvement as President of the Nautical Institute which saw the couple attend conferences and visit branches round the world.

Judy’s hobbies have always included hillwalking and skiing so when she came back ashore she took up a career as a Youth Worker and later as an Outdoor Tutor, heavily involved with the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Claire also took to the sea, joining P&O Cruises as a cadet before gaining her Master’s Ticket and rising to Senior First Officer on Oceana and then Arcadia. She married Jeff Gaskin, another Master Mariner who has now been an Aberdeen Harbour Pilot for several years. Claire is settled ashore and is a part time lecturer and mum of two lovely daughters.

When Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre became a reality and there was a call for help it seemed the obvious step for Judy - with three Master Mariners in the family - to volunteer at the Centre. Through this commitment she has also become qualified as an official port ship visitor.

SeafaReRS’bleSSinG

For all seafarers may they see God’s handiwork in the splendour of wind and sea, and be renewed in spirit by

their time of recreation.

Santa (Port Chaplain Howard Drysdale) and his helpers deliver hundreds of Christmas presents to crews spending Christmas Day in Aberdeen

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VOlunteerInGWould you like to become an Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre volunteer?

We are always looking for new people to join the team. Our volunteers are of all ages and come from all walks of life and get involved in a number of activities including helping out at the Centre.

To find out more call 07754 141 076 or email seachaplain@gmail.com or douglasduncan@apostleshipofthesea.org.uk

sIM CArDsSim cards, top-ups and reduced rate telephone cards are available for purchase at the Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre.

Seafarers are strongly advised to purchase telephone cards only from official Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre representatives.

useFul tO KnOWSeafarer Help The lifeline for seafarers - www.seafarerhelp.org (all seafarers) Tel 0800 7323 2737

Seafarer Support Referral Helpline www.seafarersupport.org (UK seafarers only) Tel 0800 121 4765

Port Transport There is no transport as the Seafarers’ Centre and City Centre are within walking distance of the port.

Aberdeen Harbour Board Tel 01224 597 000

Grampian Police Tel 0845 600 5700

Aberdeen Port Health Tel 01224 523 443

Post Office Castle Street Tel 01224 581 022

Aberdeen Central Library Rosemount Viaduct Tel 01224 652 500

Western Union (Cash Converters) George Street Tel 01224 631 362

Abeerdeen Seafarers’ Centre184 - 192 Market Street Aberdeen AB11 5PQ Tel 07754 141 076Email seachaplain@gmail.com (Howard Drysdale) or DouglasDuncan@apostleshipofthesea.org.uk

Opening Hours Monday - Sunday 18:00 to 22:00

MaRineRS ball RaiSeS fundS foR SeaWoRthy ChaRitieSThe Nautical Institute North of Scotland Branch held its annual Mariners Ball recently to raise funds for the Aberdeen Port Chaplains and the Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre.

“It was a very successful event with members and guests turning out in numbers to enjoy themselves and raise funds,” said Ian Aitchison of the local branch committee. “A great night was had by all with additional entertainment being provided in the form of the raffle and live auction with generous prizes donated by our many sponsors in Aberdeen. This year we raised £5,079 to help with seafarers’ welfare in North-East Scottish ports and to support other marine related charities and activities such as the Sea Cadets.”

Principal sponsor of the evening was Forum Energy Technologies. Many of the volunteers who staff the Centre and work with the seafarers attended the event for the first time after PCL Group, whose CEO Jeanette Forbes is chair of the volunteers committee, sponsored a volunteers table.

The volunteers were recognised for the vital role they play in supporting the Centre, continually going beyond the call of duty to make every seafarer welcome, staffing the Centre on a daily basis and giving up time on Christmas Day to deliver presents to every ship in the harbour.

During the evening, Phillip Wake, Chief Executive of the Nautical Institute, presented a cheque for £2,000 to the Centre. The money was raised at an Entry into Enclosed Spaces Seminar organised by the Nautical Institute North of Scotland Branch.

Left: Port Chaplain Howard Drysdale accepted a £2000 donation for the Centre from Phillip Wake, Chief Executive of the Nautical Institute.

a Safe haven for SailorsAberdeen Seafarers’ Centre on Market Street was established in 2012 to provide a warm, friendly base for thousands of international merchant seafarers who visit the city each year.

Open seven days a week from 18:00 to 22:00, it provides a range of activities and services to help and support seafaring visitors to Aberdeen. These include free internet, Skype and wifi, telephones, a pool table, library, television, Wii consoles and even karaoke as well as tea, coffee and a very warm welcome from the team of volunteers who staff the Centre each evening.

A charitable organisation, it is supported and funded by maritime businesses, seafaring associations, churches and individuals who make donations and hold a range of fundraising activities to help the Centre provide many services free of charge.

Its guiding principle is to provide compassionate care for merchant seafarers through enhancing their profession and spiritual wellbeing whatever their religious denomination. The day to day duties of the chaplains associated with the Centre include ship visits and helping sailors with the any difficulties they might be encountering from pay and bullying issues to making contact with their family back home.

The Centre is managed by Rev Howard Drysdale, who was the driving force behind creating this very special facility for sailors. His aspiration to create the Centre began when he first took up his post as Port Chaplain in 2001.

Howard served his craft apprenticeship in electronics before joining the Royal Navy to serve in the Fleet Air Arm, mainly on HMS Hermes. During this time he became a practicing Christian and left the Royal Navy to train in the ministry. After pastoring four churches he was appointed

Chaplain to Merchant Seafarers in Aberdeen by the Sailors’ Society in 2001 and in 2007 he was awarded the Merchant Navy Medal.

In 2012, when his dream of creating a Centre came true, thanks to the generosity and hard work of its many supporters and volunteers, he was appointed Superintendent and Port Chaplain of the Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre, where he is a friend and confidant to seafarers from around the world.

Rev Howard Drysdale

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