When ships dock today they are invariably berthed in a highly mechanised environment, contained within a patrolled security zone, often far from normal human habitation. The opportunity to go ashore is constrained by the increasingly demanding routine of shipboard life. But to combat social isolation the crews still have a desire to get off the ship and refresh their mind and spirit.

"The Port Chaplain took me to the nearest phone where I was hoping to hear glad news of the safe arrival of my first born child. I was devastated to hear that our baby girl had died within two hours of her birth. I will never know her. My wife, on the other side of the world, was grief stricken. I turned immediately to my new friend, the Port Chaplain, and we prayed together."