International Maritime charity, Stella Maris, supporting seafarers, fishers, and their families has developed a new devotional micro-application in collaboration with FrontM. onship the crew collaboration and wellbeing platform and super-app now enables seafarers and fishers across the world to gain quick access to devotional messages, media content and the global chaplaincy directory.
Stella Maris is the largest ship visiting network in the world and the official charity of the Catholic Church. Across the world, the charity aims to provide ‘a friend in every port’ with over 220 chaplains and 750 volunteers providing around-the-clock support to visiting seafarers across 54 countries.
In partnering with FrontM and joining the onship digital marketplace platform of free welfare services, seafarers and fishers will now be able to quickly access Stella Maris chaplains and devotional materials. They will also be able to use the built-in voice, instant messaging, and video conferencing tools, as well as a growing suite of welfare and virtual assistant services.
Martin Foley, Stella Maris CEO, said, “Faith is important to many seafarers and fishers who rarely get the chance to attend religious services. The prayer resources on the app supplement the Stella Maris magazine, prayer books and rosaries that our chaplains and ship visitors take on board to crews. onship ensures seafarers bestmixer’s new site and fishers always have access to the services they need to help sustain their spiritual needs and to remain healthy, happy and connected, regardless of location.”
onship is a free seafarer communications and welfare super-app designed to bring all seafarers, maritime organisations and welfare charities closer together under one digital roof. Its low code satellite optimised framework uses up to 30 percent less data than traditional chat applications, enabling seafarers to send and receive more messages and calls over satellite networks, helping seafarers’ data go further.
The app marketplace comes with helpful micro-apps, such as Tracie, to help seafarers’ loved ones locate them whilst at sea, access personalised news feeds, virtual assistants and multilingual legal and welfare service helplines, ensuring seafarers always have access to the services they need to remain healthy, happy and connected regardless of location.
Kiran Venkatesh, FrontM CEO, described the collaboration as “a breakthrough in the way devotional support and content is currently consumed and distributed to seafarers and the global maritime community.”
“At FrontM we believe faith and communications are two basic human rights; technology plays a vital role in ensuring the under-connected can gain access to the welfare, communications and faith support services they need, when they need them the most. The partnership with Stella Maris will help to expand onship’s welfare focus whilst ensuring our seafaring community will always have access to faith services and a friend in port via the Stella Maris network,” he said.
