SCI Marks 5 Years Supporting SUNY Maritime Cadets at Sea

[By: Seamen’s Church Institute]

As part of its enduring mission to serve seafarers and mariners, the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) will mark its fifth consecutive year supporting the cadets and crew for SUNY Maritime College’s Summer Sea Term. This weeks-long training voyage plays a vital role in developing the academy’s future merchant mariners.

SCI first joined the Summer Sea Term in 2021, responding to a request for emotional and mental health support during a challenging cruise shaped by ongoing COVID-19 concerns. Since then, SCI’s trained maritime chaplains have provided onboard care and support, at first aboard the Empire State VI and, beginning in 2024, aboard the new Empire State VII, the lead vessel in the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) class.

Chaplains are present and accessible to cadets, officers, and crew throughout the voyage, providing consistent support for stress, homesickness, vocational questions, or any personal concerns that may arise. SCI Chaplains provide non-denominational counseling, options for daily support, and, when called upon, sometimes lead services and rites such as burials at sea and baptisms—ceremonies that have occurred on past cruises.

The SUNY Maritime 2025 Summer Sea Term is set to commence with the departure of the Empire State VII from its Throggs Neck campus on Sunday, May 25. It will be staffed with a team of SCI Chaplains and Chaplain Associates, each assigned to a leg of the voyage. Chaplain Associate, the Rev. Charlie Stiernberg, M.D., a deacon from Houston, will take the first leg from Fort Schuyler to New Orleans; Chaplain Geoffrey Davis, SCI’s Chaplain for the Lower Mississippi & Gulf Coast Region, will take the second leg from New Orleans to Ponta Delgada, Azores; Chaplain Associate Jonathan Siger, a Houston-based rabbi, will sail from Ponta Delgada to Bergen, Norway; and Chaplain Associate Joy Manthey, a USCG-licensed captain, will take the final leg from Bergen back to Fort Schuyler, New York. The cruise is slated to conclude on July 29.

SCI’s chaplains are onboard to provide a compassionate presence while the cadets are at sea. Through their ministry and guidance, cadets experience the same holistic support SCI offers mariners across the industry—from blue-water seafarers to river and coastal mariners. “SCI deeply values its continued partnership with SUNY Maritime,” said the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, SCI President and Executive Director. “As the Empire State VII begins its second Summer Sea Term training voyage, our sailing chaplains will again accompany cadets on their journey, ensuring they are seen, heard, and supported over every mile. We are honored to be part of this formative cadet experience.”

In standing alongside cadets, SCI not only provides meaningful pastoral care but also reinforces awareness of its mission—which is grounded in compassion, dependability, and integrity toward mariners and seafarers—letting cadets know that SCI will also be there when they eventually join the maritime workforce.