Britain’s youngest port chaplain

This weekend is Sea Sunday when the Church asks us to support the work of Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) with seafarers. Greg Watts meets Bryony Watson, Britain’s youngest port chaplain.

When Bryony Watson left university with a degree in fine art she had planned on becoming a primary school teacher. But she changed her mind and decided on an unconventual career choice. She became an AoS port chaplain.

At twenty-three, Bryony is the youngest member of AoS’ port chaplaincy team. She covers Immingham, Grimsby, and several ports on the Humber and Trent rivers. Before her appointment in February, she had been a volunteer ship visitor for four years.

As a port chaplain, Bryony never knows what to expect when she dons her hard hat and high-vis jacket. Earlier this year, she and fellow port chaplain Steve Willows were contacted to say that a seafarer had been injured on a ship in Immingham.

“We were informed of this incident shortly after and headed to the ship straightaway. We spoke to the captain but no one else, as the ship was scheduled to leave. The captain asked us to be on hand when the ship next arrived in Immingham and we assured him we would be.

“He also gave us the full name of the crew member and requested that a priest visit him in hospital. Two days later, when the ship arrived back into port, we were able to board the vessel again, this time speaking to a few crew members and informing them of their friend’s progress. We also took the second officer to the seafarer’s centre to get top ups and, more importantly, chocolate.”

After that, she and Steve made weekly visits to the vessel and informed the crew of their colleague’s progress. They got to know the chief officer well.

“Often, with the rest of the crew busy in the holds, the chief officer would be alone in the cargo control room watching the monitors and remotely operating the unloading. During our visits he would talk about his young daughter and wife, the struggles of working on a ship which is never in port for more than six hours and occasionally trying to teach us about the ballast and heeling system (which I remain baffled by).

“It struck me that his life on the ship was often a lonely one. Even though the crew seem to have a good relationship with each other, the time they are able to spend together is very limited. Steve and I visited the chief officer during his lunch break, and found that he would have been eating alone, had we not been there.”

While Bryony provides a lot of practical help to seafarers – SIM cards, mobile-phone top-up cards, transport to local shops, warm clothingin the winter - she sees simply being available as an important part of her role.

“Port chaplaincy is about being present, being there, whether that means standing on a cold deck in the rain for an hour, or chatting over coffee in a mess room.”

Find out more about the AoS here: www.apostleshipofthesea.org.uk