Seafarer Connect is proud to announce $150,000 in new funding from the ITF Seafarers’ Trust to expand ship-to-shore WiFi access across Queensland ports, including Brisbane and Gladstone.
This funding will allow the roll out of additional Seafarer Connect Wi-Fi devices, giving thousands of international seafarers who visit Queensland’s ports and harbours reliable, free internet access while their ships are berthed alongside the wharf. For many crew members on foreign-flagged vessels, connectivity is otherwise scarce, expensive, or entirely absent while at sea.
Reliable internet is more than convenience, it’s a vital lifeline. Seafarers are often away from home for many months at a time, facing isolation and limited contact with loved ones. Free and easy-to-use internet in Australian ports means they can reconnect with family, access education or training materials, manage finances, or simply keep up with daily life online in a manner that those of us who work ashore take for granted nowadays.
The ITF Seafarers’ Trust has long supported projects that improve the welfare of seafarers worldwide. This partnership ensures that Queensland ports will play their part in addressing the digital divide that too often leaves seafarers disconnected. The recent grant has seen the service grow in the Port of Brisbane where Patricks, DP World, Linx and Hutchison terminals have new portable Wi-Fi units operating at their wharves. It has also seen the Mission to Seafarers at Gladstone manage three new Seafarer Connect Wi-Fi units at their port.
We look forward to their further support to ensure Wi-Fi connectivity is available for as many visiting seafarers as possible. There are still a number of Queensland port operators who are yet to adopt the Seafarer Connect initiative or directly provide an equivalent service, so we look forward to engaging in a dialogue with those operators in the near future.