Port Hedland Seafarers Centre Latest News
Tour Promotional Videos
The Port Hedland Seafarers Centre is gearing up for another busy tourist season. To help spread the word on the great tours provided by the Seafarers Centre, 2 promotional videos have been produced. Not only do the tours showcase what the Port Hedland Seafarers Centre does on a day to day basis, but the money raised goes directly to providing services for visiting seafarers! Check out the videos below.
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Christmas 2016 Gift Bag Drive
The Port Hedland Seafarers Centre has extended the Christmas spirit to visiting seafarers once again this year. Check out the video of this years gift bag drive. Thanks to Helen Komene for producting this video - https://www.helenkomene.com/
Ship to Shore Newsletter
Check out our regular newsletter - Ship to Shore, for further information about whats happening in and around the seafarers centre! You can find previous editions here also.
Most Recent Edition: Sep 2016 - Issue 6
Jun 2014 - Issue 1
Oct 2014 - Issue 2
Jun 2015 - Issue 3
Dec 2015 - Issue 4
Mar 2016 - Issue 5
Jun 2014 - Issue 1
Oct 2014 - Issue 2
Jun 2015 - Issue 3
Dec 2015 - Issue 4
Mar 2016 - Issue 5
New leadership for seafarers centre
Taken from The North West Telegraph - Wednesday 1st February 2017. By Taylar Amonini.
Port Hedland Seafarers Centre has started a new reign with chaplain Alan Mower stepping down in his leadership role.
New operations manager Chris Towsey has been learning the ropes over the past few months in preparation for Mr Mower’s bittersweet departure.
Mr Mower, who has been chaplain of the centre for the past six years, said he would be sad to leave the organisation he had put so much hard work into but was excited for the future.
He said the mission had got to the stage where he felt it was time to hand over the reins.
“I think it requires another stage of leadership to continue to take it forward and to continue to hang on to it would stifle to growth of the centre,” he said. Mr Mower is travelling with his wife, Maria, seeing both the world and Australia.
Mr Towsey, however, has been putting the skills he has developed in his 40-year mining career to work and finding his place in the well-loved seafarers centre.
“I’m taking over a business that’s in very good shape, has a brilliant future and is on a very good foundation, both financially and in terms of management systems.
“So from that point of view, it’s a good system to come into.
“There’s a future for it (the centre) and there’s also room for improvement.”
The upcoming developments are critical to determining what direction the centre will take next, according to Mr Towsey, but the bottom line is caring for seafarers.
“The seafarers are our prime focus,” he said.
However, Mr Towsey does invite the public to come down to the centre and discover the opportunities available to the public such as mining tours and volunteer positions
“We’re open 365 days a year and we welcome all visitors,” he said.
New operations manager Chris Towsey has been learning the ropes over the past few months in preparation for Mr Mower’s bittersweet departure.
Mr Mower, who has been chaplain of the centre for the past six years, said he would be sad to leave the organisation he had put so much hard work into but was excited for the future.
He said the mission had got to the stage where he felt it was time to hand over the reins.
“I think it requires another stage of leadership to continue to take it forward and to continue to hang on to it would stifle to growth of the centre,” he said. Mr Mower is travelling with his wife, Maria, seeing both the world and Australia.
Mr Towsey, however, has been putting the skills he has developed in his 40-year mining career to work and finding his place in the well-loved seafarers centre.
“I’m taking over a business that’s in very good shape, has a brilliant future and is on a very good foundation, both financially and in terms of management systems.
“So from that point of view, it’s a good system to come into.
“There’s a future for it (the centre) and there’s also room for improvement.”
The upcoming developments are critical to determining what direction the centre will take next, according to Mr Towsey, but the bottom line is caring for seafarers.
“The seafarers are our prime focus,” he said.
However, Mr Towsey does invite the public to come down to the centre and discover the opportunities available to the public such as mining tours and volunteer positions
“We’re open 365 days a year and we welcome all visitors,” he said.
New supporters come aboard with Seafarers
Friday 29th July 2016.
The Port Hedland Seafarers Centre is a not for profit organisation, and relies on the support of the local community, to help look after the international seafaring community. The Seafarers Centre is delighted to have some new supporters "come board" to help the Centre with its ongoing work. We hope that you might support them as they have supported us, to continue with our worthwhile mission. Thanks!
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Please check out the Supporters page for more information
Unique insight into iron ore
Taken from The North West Telegraph - Wednesday 18th May 2016. By Ben Leahy.
Visiting grey nomads can view Hedland’s iron ore industry from a new angle now the seafarers centre has begun guided tours into miner Fortescue Metals Group’s port operations.
Beginning at the Port Hedland Seafarers Centre, the tour takes tourists by bus into Fortescue’s Herb Elliott Port operations where they pull up alongside vessels loading iron ore.
Seafarers centre senior chaplain Alan Mower said the tour allowed visitors a unique insight into the operations of the world’s “fourth largest seaport exporter of iron ore”.
“(We go) in through the front gate … past the stockyards, looking at stackers and reclaimers,” he said.
We have also been given access to go … along the wharf, in under the ship loaders, to see the ships being loaded.
“There is a real sense of getting behind the scenes.”
The Fortescue tour joins the Seafarers’ innovative harbour tour and the visitor centre’s guided ride through BHP Billiton’s Nelson Point port operations in allowing visitors access to Hedland’s iron ore industry.
The Seafarers’ harbour tour allows tourists to join the centre’s staff as they use a small boat like a taxi to motor between iron ore carriers and pick up visiting crew wishing to come ashore to shop and relax.
Mr Mower said Hedland’s mining-related tours had increasingly put the town on the grey nomad tourist trail.
He tipped an even bigger tourist season this year after the Town of Port Hedland decided to open its Turf Club discounted caravan campgrounds for an even longer period from May until the end of August.
With Fortescue also allowing the Seafarers to pocket the proceeds from the new port operations tour, the Christian pastoral care mission hoped it would generate substantial income to help fund its plans to build a new, larger centre.
“It is a very practical way (for Fortescue to) support the building of our new mission,” Mr Mower said.
Fortescue group manager government and community Alexa Morcombe said the miner was proud to grant “access to our Herb Elliott Port for weekly tours that will help the (Seafarers) with its ongoing fundraising, while also sharing our journey with visitors”.
Beginning at the Port Hedland Seafarers Centre, the tour takes tourists by bus into Fortescue’s Herb Elliott Port operations where they pull up alongside vessels loading iron ore.
Seafarers centre senior chaplain Alan Mower said the tour allowed visitors a unique insight into the operations of the world’s “fourth largest seaport exporter of iron ore”.
“(We go) in through the front gate … past the stockyards, looking at stackers and reclaimers,” he said.
We have also been given access to go … along the wharf, in under the ship loaders, to see the ships being loaded.
“There is a real sense of getting behind the scenes.”
The Fortescue tour joins the Seafarers’ innovative harbour tour and the visitor centre’s guided ride through BHP Billiton’s Nelson Point port operations in allowing visitors access to Hedland’s iron ore industry.
The Seafarers’ harbour tour allows tourists to join the centre’s staff as they use a small boat like a taxi to motor between iron ore carriers and pick up visiting crew wishing to come ashore to shop and relax.
Mr Mower said Hedland’s mining-related tours had increasingly put the town on the grey nomad tourist trail.
He tipped an even bigger tourist season this year after the Town of Port Hedland decided to open its Turf Club discounted caravan campgrounds for an even longer period from May until the end of August.
With Fortescue also allowing the Seafarers to pocket the proceeds from the new port operations tour, the Christian pastoral care mission hoped it would generate substantial income to help fund its plans to build a new, larger centre.
“It is a very practical way (for Fortescue to) support the building of our new mission,” Mr Mower said.
Fortescue group manager government and community Alexa Morcombe said the miner was proud to grant “access to our Herb Elliott Port for weekly tours that will help the (Seafarers) with its ongoing fundraising, while also sharing our journey with visitors”.
Fortescue and Hedland Seafarers staff lead tourists on the first guided tour of the miner's port operations earlier this month. Picture: Alan Mower
For more information on Tours offered by the Seafarers Centre,
please visit the Tours page or Contact Us.
please visit the Tours page or Contact Us.
Centre site a sea change for Seafarers
Taken from The North West Telegraph - Wednesday 20th January 2016. By Rebecca Parish
Port Hedland Seafarers Centre senior chaplain Alan Mower has expressed his delight after the mission secured land for a new centre last week.
Lot 9, The Esplanade will be the new home for the Seafarers Centre, the result of four years of hard work, dedication and patience from staff.
The new centre will cost about $4 million with major port stakeholders supplying the majority of the funding. Mr Mower said he hoped work would be near completion within 18 months to two years.
“I’ve been dreaming of this for five years,” he said.
“We were looking at blocks for two-and-a-half years and it’s just the current downturn in the retail market that has made it affordable for us.
“We’ve been squirreling away our little bits of money for four or five years now and the Lord has blessed us.”
Architect Fratelle Group director Kylee Schoonens said the new centre would be a striking building that served the needs of the Seafarers.
“For me, the Seafarers Mission has already moved so far, what we want to do is help them grow further into the future,” she said.
Mr Mower said the centre had also secured the lot beside their purchase last week, with BHP Billiton making the land available to give the new centre an extra 300sqm.
The building will not only be built using the square footage of the lot but will also go up by at least one level, making further use of the view of the port which sits in front of the lot.
“There’s obviously a sense of excitement but there is a lot of hard work and a lot of preparation to be done,” Mr Mower said.
The existing centre, on Wilson Street is owned by the Seafarers Centre but sits on Pilbara Port Authority land.
Mr Mower said the existing building would likely be demolished once the new centre was up and running.
He added the centre was still looking for extra finance to ensure the project was built to fully encompass the dream of staff.
Lot 9, The Esplanade will be the new home for the Seafarers Centre, the result of four years of hard work, dedication and patience from staff.
The new centre will cost about $4 million with major port stakeholders supplying the majority of the funding. Mr Mower said he hoped work would be near completion within 18 months to two years.
“I’ve been dreaming of this for five years,” he said.
“We were looking at blocks for two-and-a-half years and it’s just the current downturn in the retail market that has made it affordable for us.
“We’ve been squirreling away our little bits of money for four or five years now and the Lord has blessed us.”
Architect Fratelle Group director Kylee Schoonens said the new centre would be a striking building that served the needs of the Seafarers.
“For me, the Seafarers Mission has already moved so far, what we want to do is help them grow further into the future,” she said.
Mr Mower said the centre had also secured the lot beside their purchase last week, with BHP Billiton making the land available to give the new centre an extra 300sqm.
The building will not only be built using the square footage of the lot but will also go up by at least one level, making further use of the view of the port which sits in front of the lot.
“There’s obviously a sense of excitement but there is a lot of hard work and a lot of preparation to be done,” Mr Mower said.
The existing centre, on Wilson Street is owned by the Seafarers Centre but sits on Pilbara Port Authority land.
Mr Mower said the existing building would likely be demolished once the new centre was up and running.
He added the centre was still looking for extra finance to ensure the project was built to fully encompass the dream of staff.
Fratelle Group’s Marco Bense and Kylee Schoonens, with Port Hedland Seafarers Centre associate chaplains Garry South and Eion Simmons, watch on as senior chaplain Alan Mower unlocks the gate to the site of the new mission. Picture: Rebecca Parish
Christmas 2015 Gift Bag Drive
14th January 2016.
Every year Port Hedland Seafarers Centre will pack and distribute thousands of Christmas gift bags to Seafarers who will be berthed in the harbour or on standby at anchorage, up to 42 kilometres out to sea. The below video and photos are an insight to this massive undertaking.
A Night In Paris
Port Hedland Business of the Year Awards 2015
9th September 2015. By Judy Wells
Committee and staff members were thrilled to find the Seafarers Centre nominated as finalists in the following three categories of the 2015 Port Hedland Business of the Year Awards, held at the Walkabout Hotel on August 29th
Due to the success of our Harbour Tours, most felt we could surely win the Tourism award, however it was not to be. Any disappointment was quickly put aside when the final award of the night, The Inaugural Peoples Choice Award was announced, and the winner, The Seafarers Centre.
The Seafarers Mission is unashamedly a Christian organisation and we must thank God for the vision of the harbour tours but we also send a huge thank you to all our staff, committee members and all associated with the Centre. To win this award is a sign that we are succeeding in our efforts to welcome both Seafarers and visitors, and continually working towards looking after the welfare of the Seafarers.
Feedback from our Harbour Tours includes words such as awesome, excellent, impressive, and wonderful, whilst every day our efforts to help the seafarers are rewarded with happy smiles and thank you's as well as thank you emails from many Captains of the visiting ships.
- Best Business, 11-20 employees
- Tourism and Hospitality
- Inaugural Peoples' Choice Award
Due to the success of our Harbour Tours, most felt we could surely win the Tourism award, however it was not to be. Any disappointment was quickly put aside when the final award of the night, The Inaugural Peoples Choice Award was announced, and the winner, The Seafarers Centre.
The Seafarers Mission is unashamedly a Christian organisation and we must thank God for the vision of the harbour tours but we also send a huge thank you to all our staff, committee members and all associated with the Centre. To win this award is a sign that we are succeeding in our efforts to welcome both Seafarers and visitors, and continually working towards looking after the welfare of the Seafarers.
Feedback from our Harbour Tours includes words such as awesome, excellent, impressive, and wonderful, whilst every day our efforts to help the seafarers are rewarded with happy smiles and thank you's as well as thank you emails from many Captains of the visiting ships.
Seafarers Centre helps out the TS Plibara
16th August 2015. By Isle Gosper
Royal Australian Navy vessels seldom visit Port Hedland (the previous one was in 2013) so it was a great opportunity when HMAS Sirius came to Port Hedland earlier this month for a few days.
The navy cadet unit in Port Hedland, Training Ship (TS) Pilbara immediately liaised with the HMAS Sirius and Pilbara Ports Authority to organise a tour for the Navy Cadets.
The logistics of organising the visit included gaining permission to access the wharf where HMAS Sirius was berthed. Private vehicles are not permitted and it was a great relief when the Port Hedland Seafarer’s Centre agreed for the cadets to utilise the Seafarer’s Bus for the ship visit.
Thirteen TS Pilbara cadets, 2 staff and a few parents and siblings boarded the Coaster bus after meeting at the Seafarer’s Centre, passed through the security gate with their IDs in hand, and proceeded to berth PH1. The duty officer and crew of HMAS Sirius welcomed the cadets at the gangway and gave a very informative tour of the ship. An hour later the tour was over, the group returned to the bus and headed back to the Seafarer’s Centre.
It was an interesting afternoon which would not have been possible without the assistance of the Seafarer’s Centre. The TS Pilbara cadets enjoyed the tour immensely and it was an opportunity for many of them to discover what the Centre offered to the seafarers.
The navy cadet unit in Port Hedland, Training Ship (TS) Pilbara immediately liaised with the HMAS Sirius and Pilbara Ports Authority to organise a tour for the Navy Cadets.
The logistics of organising the visit included gaining permission to access the wharf where HMAS Sirius was berthed. Private vehicles are not permitted and it was a great relief when the Port Hedland Seafarer’s Centre agreed for the cadets to utilise the Seafarer’s Bus for the ship visit.
Thirteen TS Pilbara cadets, 2 staff and a few parents and siblings boarded the Coaster bus after meeting at the Seafarer’s Centre, passed through the security gate with their IDs in hand, and proceeded to berth PH1. The duty officer and crew of HMAS Sirius welcomed the cadets at the gangway and gave a very informative tour of the ship. An hour later the tour was over, the group returned to the bus and headed back to the Seafarer’s Centre.
It was an interesting afternoon which would not have been possible without the assistance of the Seafarer’s Centre. The TS Pilbara cadets enjoyed the tour immensely and it was an opportunity for many of them to discover what the Centre offered to the seafarers.
TS Pilbara alongside the HMAS Sirius. Picture: Ilse Gosper
Unique view of port captured
Taken from The North West Telegraph - Wednesday 1st July 2015. By Ben Leahy.
Port Hedland Seafarers Centre senior chaplain Alan Mower interviews his colleague Garry South.
Picture: Steve Fitzgibbon |
Visiting grey nomads can now gain much greater insight into Hedland’s port and mining operations, thanks to a new documentary film by the Seafarers Centre.
The Power behind the Port documentary put together by the Seafarers, allows viewers to see Hedland’s harbour from unique angles, be it on-board a tugboat, the bridge of an iron ore carrier or inside a helicopter. Even long-time residents are likely to find it interesting, given the film packs plenty of information about how Fortescue Metals Group’s mining operations work or how Dampier Salt transforms ponds of seawater into mountains of salt. Seafarers Centre senior chaplain Alan Mower said sales of the film would help raise funds and awareness for the non-profit group. “Not only can we offer information about what we do (in the film) … we also help the purchaser understand what makes the port tick.” The short film continues a push by the Seafarers to use innovative tourism initiatives to raise money to increase services it provides to visiting iron ore carrier crews. Last year, the centre launched successful harbour tours, which allow visitors to follow Seafarers staff around the port on a small boat as they pick up crew members from visiting vessels. The unique tours allow the visitors to see the huge iron ore carriers upclose — a view they could not otherwise get because of the port’s stringent health and safety rules. Mr Mower said as a result, numbers on the tours had skyrocketed this season. “We’ve had to put extra tours on. On many days, when the tide allows, we are running two tours a day,” he said. Power behind the Port is available at the Port Hedland Seafarers Centre in Wilson St. |
Seafarers’ centre seeks a better deal for crews
Taken from The North West Telegraph - Wednesday 24th June 2015. By Ben Leahy.
Port Hedland Seafarers Centre says it is working with retailers to improve the service they provide to crew members from visiting iron ore carriers.
Seafarers’ centre Senior Chaplain Alan Mower said visiting crews were not always treated with the respect or high-quality service they deserved.
This ranged from incidents at the Port Hedland Boulevard Shopping Centre, in which crew members were verbally attacked, to past restrictions imposed by Woolworths Supermarket on the amount of baby formula they could buy.
“About three years ago we had a seafarer who was arrested, jailed and deported for taking improper photography — and that is rightly so,” he said.
“But when you have that sort of thing happen … certain corners of our community tar them all with one brush.
“You are always going to have a bad egg in every basket and that is in Australia as well. To paint these guys in a corner and not allow them out — they deserve being given a better response and acceptance.”
The centre’s plea comes as Hedland residents often express concern about the potential mental health impacts of fly-in fly-out work practices but give little thought to iron ore carrier crews.
The foreign seafarers can spend up to nine months at a time on their vessels as they play a key role in boosting Australia’s iron ore exports.
Mr Mower said visiting crews also injected about $4.5 million into the local economy, based on the amount of foreign currency they exchange into Australian dollars.
Pharmacy 777 Port Hedland proprietor Laura Stewart said she valued the crews’ business so much she had created Chinese language signs and special stands filled with the Australian-made products they prefer.
“They are a really important part of our business and they bring extra foot traffic through the centre and to us,” she said.
“We have, over the time that the numbers of seafarers have been increasing, tried to tailor our offerings to suit them.”
Mr Mower said his centre focused on providing pastoral care to visiting crews, but reserved the right to bus them to the shop owners who would treat them best.
“I have a choice to take them to South Hedland, I have a choice not to take them anywhere and develop our own mini mall,” he said. “But that is not what we are on about, we are on about sharing the wealth.”
Seafarers’ centre Senior Chaplain Alan Mower said visiting crews were not always treated with the respect or high-quality service they deserved.
This ranged from incidents at the Port Hedland Boulevard Shopping Centre, in which crew members were verbally attacked, to past restrictions imposed by Woolworths Supermarket on the amount of baby formula they could buy.
“About three years ago we had a seafarer who was arrested, jailed and deported for taking improper photography — and that is rightly so,” he said.
“But when you have that sort of thing happen … certain corners of our community tar them all with one brush.
“You are always going to have a bad egg in every basket and that is in Australia as well. To paint these guys in a corner and not allow them out — they deserve being given a better response and acceptance.”
The centre’s plea comes as Hedland residents often express concern about the potential mental health impacts of fly-in fly-out work practices but give little thought to iron ore carrier crews.
The foreign seafarers can spend up to nine months at a time on their vessels as they play a key role in boosting Australia’s iron ore exports.
Mr Mower said visiting crews also injected about $4.5 million into the local economy, based on the amount of foreign currency they exchange into Australian dollars.
Pharmacy 777 Port Hedland proprietor Laura Stewart said she valued the crews’ business so much she had created Chinese language signs and special stands filled with the Australian-made products they prefer.
“They are a really important part of our business and they bring extra foot traffic through the centre and to us,” she said.
“We have, over the time that the numbers of seafarers have been increasing, tried to tailor our offerings to suit them.”
Mr Mower said his centre focused on providing pastoral care to visiting crews, but reserved the right to bus them to the shop owners who would treat them best.
“I have a choice to take them to South Hedland, I have a choice not to take them anywhere and develop our own mini mall,” he said. “But that is not what we are on about, we are on about sharing the wealth.”
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Copyright © 2017 Port Hedland Peace Memorial Seafarers Centre
