The Seamen's Church Institute (SCI; formerly known as the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey) is an American maritime nonprofit organization that serves mariners and seafarers through chaplaincy, crisis response, training, feasibility studies, legal advocacy, and maritime policy. Founded in Lower Manhattan in 1834,[1] it is affiliated with the Episcopal Church. With a budget of over $7 million,[2] SCI is the largest, most comprehensive mariners’ agency in North America. The institute is headquartered in New York City and operates the International Seafarers’ Center in Port Newark,[3][4] Centers for Maritime Education in Paducah, Kentucky,[5] and Houston, Texas,[6] and the Center for Mariner Advocacy in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Annually, its chaplains visit more than 2,000 vessels in the Port of New York and New Jersey and along the American inland waterways system.[2]
SCI provides free legal advice for merchant mariners worldwide and advocates for their rights to the United States government, including the United States Congress, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Coast Guard, as well as other governments, the United Nations, the International Maritime Organization, the International Labour Organization, and maritime trade associations.[7]
SCI instructors provide professional development and educational programs for inland and coastal mariners using simulator training facilities at SCI-Paducah and SCI-Houston.[8]
SCI's Christmas at Sea program annually provides more than 25,000 hand-knit gifts to mariners at the holidays.[2] CAS was founded in 1898 during the Spanish–American War.
SCI is led by the Reverend Mark S. Nestlehutt, President & Executive Director. Mr. Nestlehutt is an Episcopal minister who previously served in maritime parishes and as a naval officer.