The Finnish Seamen’s Mission has been doing valuable work for seafarers and Finnish expats since 1875.

There are more than 800 ecumenical seamen’s missions available to seafarers all across the world. They offer services to all seafarers and other travellers regardless of their nationality, origin, language, religion or cultural background.

The Finnish Seamen’s Mission was born when the Imperial Senate approved the association’s rules in 1875. It was initially centred on England, before expanding its work to the rest of Europe and North America in the late 1880s.

The Finnish Seamen’s Mission currently maintains missions in Finland and elsewhere in Europe. Approximately 200,000 encounters occur every year through the mission. Its foreign missions are visited by Finnish expats, seafarers, students, au pairs, drivers of heavy goods vehicles, business travellers, posted workers, tourists, and friends of Finland.

The Finnish Seamen’s Mission is a place for people on the move, and offers visitors a home away from home.

The Finnish Seamen’s Mission is a place for people on the move, and offers visitors a home away from home. Seamen’s missions in Europe have become centres for Finnish language and culture, as well as shop windows for Finnish food and design.

In addition to its fixed locations, the Mission also engages in mobile work in Belgium, the Costa del Sol in Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, northern Germany, Warsaw and Southeast Asia.

The Finnish Seamen’s Mission is preparing for a significant expansion in its work abroad. As part of an agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s National Ecclesiastical Board, the Mission will handle the operational management and coordination of ecclesiastical expatriate work from the beginning of 2025.

The Mission’s doors are always open  

At Finnish ports, the Mission serves all seafarers in accordance with the principle of reciprocity in international law. Thousands of foreign sailors from more than 50 countries meet at seamen’s missions every year.

Their doors are open to other visitors as well, and their services are used by a variety of groups. In Turku and Vuosaari, these include drivers of heavy goods vehicles in particular. Missions at Finnish ports offer international seafarers a safe meeting and resting place. A port curator is a Mission employee who works at Finnish missions and also visits ships.

Like those who work at ports, ship curators  engage in accident prevention work aboard ships by supporting the overall wellbeing of seafarers and ship communities.

Ship curators have a duty of confidentiality. They are always there to listen, and provide everyday support during lengthy periods of work away from home.

“We support people and communities in joy, sadness and everyday life. The Seamen’s Mission is an open and caring community and a partner,” says the Mission.

The Finnish Seamen’s Mission has service points in Vuosaari and Hernesaari.

The Vuosaari Seamen’s Mission is located outside the closed harbour area, in the immediate vicinity of Gate House and the Hansa Terminal. It operates out of the Helsinki Seafarers’ Centre, which is also home to a representative of the Finnish Seamen’s Service.

Since 2014, a service point for international cruise ship crews has operated in Hernesaari, Helsinki during the summer months. This service point is jointly run by the Finnish Seamen’s Mission and Finnish Seamen’s Service. However, it is still uncertain whether services can be provided this year.

Approximately 250 vessels visit Helsinki every summer, with each one carrying approximately 800 crewmembers. Small ships have a few hundred employees, while larger ones may have more than 1,500. Most crewmembers come from countries in the Far East or South and Central America. There are only a handful of service points in the world like the one in Hernesaari. 

Source: The Finnish Seamen’s Mission and Finnish Seamen’s Service

FSS provides services for seafarers

The Finnish Seamen’s Service (FSS) was established in 1973 and is responsible for ensuring that seafarers also have equal access to social services.
Seafarers and shore-based workers do not have equal opportunities for participating in hobbies and social activities, as seafarers often spend long periods away from their home countries, and also have to spend a lot of their free time on board ships in a limited environment.

The activities of the Finnish Seamen’s Service are based on the Seamen’s Service Act and the conventions and recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The FSS’s mandate is to support hobbies and adult studies for seafarers, and to provide them with learning, information and leisure services.

Seafarers who pay FSS fees are entitled to all of the FSS’s services. Crewmembers can order books and DVDs of their choice to be delivered to ships. FSS representatives and contact persons also deliver the latest newspapers and magazines to ships.

Seafarers can take customised courses with more flexible schedules and more affordable prices compared to those offered by traditional adult education centres. The FSS organises sports and exercise services for ship crews as well. There is also the ForMare wellness programme, which offers seafarers a path for making sustainable lifestyle changes.