Stella Maris Mejillones
Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea) · at Mejillones
Services available
- Free wifi
- Most centres offer free wifi covering email, video calls, messaging apps, and modest social-media use. Bandwidth is rarely sufficient for streaming HD video or large file downloads. Bring a working unlocked phone or laptop; the centre may have a guest-network password posted, or you may need to ask at the desk.
- Transport to/from the ship
- Most port-side welfare centres provide a van or minibus shuttle between the ship's berth and the centre, and onward into town. Transport is normally free but may have set departure times. Ask the chaplaincy in advance — or call the centre's helpline — to confirm pick-up timing. Bring your gate pass and seaman's book for terminal security.
- Chapel / quiet room
- Most centres maintain a quiet chapel or prayer room, open to seafarers of every faith for private prayer or reflection. Some centres run regular Christian services; the chapel is also available for private use at other times. Welfare centres affiliated with the Mission to Seafarers, Stella Maris, NAMMA, Sjømannskirken, and similar are explicitly inclusive.
- Counselling
- Chaplains and welfare workers provide confidential one-to-one counselling on personal, family, financial, or work-related concerns. Conversations are bound by professional confidentiality. For longer-term mental-health support, the Sailors' Society's Wellness at Sea programme and ISWAN's SeafarerHelp 24-hour multilingual helpline are also accessible from any centre.
About Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea)
Stella Maris (the Apostleship of the Sea) is the Catholic Church's official seafarer-welfare ministry. Founded in Glasgow in 1920, Stella Maris operates in around 330 ports across 60+ countries and is the largest single seafarer-welfare network. Chaplains visit ships in port, run port-side centres, and provide 24-hour pastoral and practical support. Like the Mission to Seafarers, Stella Maris serves seafarers of every faith and none.
The pastoral and practical care of seafarers — Catholic-rooted but inclusive — through ship visits, centres, helplines, and advocacy.
A Stella Maris centre will offer free wifi, chapel/quiet space, basic shop, and almost always transport to and from the ship. Chaplains conduct ship visits in many languages and will help arrange hospital visits, family-emergency communication, and legal aid where appropriate. The centres are typically open daily, with a chaplain available for confidential conversations.
No paperwork is required for routine visits — wifi, shop, transport, chapel — but bring your seaman's book if you want to access advocacy, legal aid, or any case the chaplain may take up with port-state-control or the ITF. For longer pastoral conversations, no preparation is needed; chaplains are bound by professional confidentiality.
At this port
This centre serves Mejillones in Chile. Check the port page for shore-leave, visa, helpline, and PSC context that affects your call here.
Editorial confidence: how we grade. Welfare centre opening hours change — confirm before visiting.