Seafarer Welfare
Grants for Seafarer Welfare
Maritime NZ offers grants for suitably qualified and experienced organisations to deliver seafarer welfare services which contribute to New Zealand meeting its obligations under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).
Applications for this round of funding (for delivery from 1 September 2024 – 30 June 2025) closed on 4 June 2024 and the successful applicants were announced at the start of September.
Our next funding round will be available in 2025.
As a signatory to the Maritime Labour Convention, New Zealand has an obligation to provide services and facilities that meet the health and welfare needs of international seafarers on ships when they reach our ports.
As of 1 September 2024, the Maritime NZ Grants for Seafarer Welfare programme is funded to provide a total grants pool of $930,475 for the 2024 – 2025 year. These grants are funded through a proportion of the maritime levies applied to commercial ships operating in New Zealand waters.
The grants programme is administered by Maritime NZ for specific services to be provided and made accessible from ports.
All applicants were assessed against a range of criteria, including compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006).
The successful 2024 – 2025 grant recipients are:
Welfare provider |
Programme description |
Partners |
Grant |
Location |
| Maritime Welfare | Delivery of seafarer welfare services at the Ports of Auckland by seafarer welfare officers, ship visiting and providing services such as WiFi and support at the Auckland International Seafarers Centre. | Auckland International Seafarers Centre, Mission to Seafarers Auckland, Stella Maris Auckland and the Sailors Society NZ Charitable Trust | $165,000 | Auckland |
| Maritime Welfare | Providing WiFi and an unmanned Seafarers Centre in the Port of Bluff | Bluff Seafarers Centre, Sailors Society NZ Charitable Trust | $2500 | Bluff |
| Maritime Welfare | Delivery of seafarer welfare services through ship visiting and meeting crew at the Seafarers Centre at Port Marlborough. | Picton Seafarers Facility - Port Marlborough, Sailors Society NZ Charitable Trust, Picton Baptist Church | $10,000 | Picton |
| Hawke’s Bay Seafarers Welfare Society | Providing services such as Wifi and Transport at the Centre in addition to ship visiting by a seafarer welfare officer and coordinating a volunteer group for both shore-based and ship visiting services at Napier Port. | Napier Seafarer Welfare Centre | $62,834 | Napier |
| United Seafarers Mission Tauranga Charitable Trust | Providing a comprehensive staffed seafarer welfare centre with services such as transportation, WiFi, recreational facilities, information, currency exchange and a small shop at the Port of Tauranga | United Seafarer's Mission Tauranga Centre. Mission to Seafarers – Anglican Mission Stella Maris – Catholic Mission Galilee Mission – Protestant Mission |
$164,000 | Tauranga |
| South Canterbury Seafarers Welfare Committee | Providing ship visiting services, Wi-Fi, pastoral support by a seafarer welfare officer, and access to the Seafarers Centre at the Port of Timaru. | Timaru Seafarers Centre | $40,000 | Timaru |
| The Lyttelton Seafarers’ Centre | Providing seafarer welfare services at the centre such as WiFi, currency exchange, transportation, pastoral support and ship visiting by seafarer welfare officers at the Lyttelton Port. | The Lyttelton Seafarers’ Centre | $104,141 | Lyttelton |
| The Mission to Seafarers New Zealand Charitable Trust | Providing ship visiting, Wi-Fi, information, access to Seafarer Welfare Centres, transportation, shopping services, communication services, and support at Nelson, Wellington, New Plymouth, Marsden Point, Tauranga and Gisborne Ports. Additionally providing support to Fishers in Nelson as resources allow. | FirstMate, The Mission to Seafarers New Zealand Charitable Trust, Wellington Seafarers Centre, Mission to Seafarers - Marsden Point Seafarers Centre - Nelson Seafarers Centre, Mission to Seafarers - Marsden Point Seafarers Centre. | $382,000 | Marsden Point, Tauranga, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Wellington, and Nelson |
Contact us
If you need any further information about the Grants for Seafarer Welfare, please contact us here:
SeafarerWelfareGrants@maritimenz.govt.nz