Around the Centres — Brisbane
Going beyond your Limits
On Monday the 12th of May, we received a call from the Ruby River, a ship berthed at the Caltex Crude Wharf here in Brisbane, requesting a Mass and blessing for the ship. Soon into the conversation with the ship‟s master, we learnt that 5 days earlier, a young motor-man, by the name of Morker Yogeshkumar Natvarlal, had passed away.
Apparently, he had just finished his evening meal and was sitting in his cabin, talking to a couple of other crew members. Without any warning, he stood up and fell back to the ground. He had suffered a massive stroke. He was 27 years old and due to leave the ship when it arrived in Brisbane to go to home. At home waiting for him were his wife and two children. The majority of the crew were catholic from India. Fr Greg Rowles, Port Chaplain of Brisbane, and I, went straight to the ship, celebrating Mass for the crew and blessing the ship and the crewman‟s cabin. Everything in the cabin was exactly as it had been. His daily work clothes were hung up and shoes neatly lined up on the floor. It was like life had just stopped in an instant, and his cabin was suspended in time.
We had special prayers for the crew and spent some time with them after Mass. When we left the ship, there was a much more sense of closure for the crew. They will be back in 30 days and we will continue supporting them. The only other two stops that they have are in Port Botany, where there is no chance to go ashore, or to visit them, and a Port in Japan where they load from the end of a pipeline at sea.
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| Fr Greg Rowles, Port Chaplain of Brisbane, with Captain |
This instance shows the reason for pastoral care, often as seafarers only have the Chaplain to keep them with their Church and support them through these difficult times. Please pray for Morker, his family and the crew of the Ruby River.
Ted Richardson
