Salvage efforts set to begin for Concordia: Apostleship of the Sea continues ministry to survivors

Salvage work is expected to begin later on Wednesday on the Costa Concordia, as hopes fade for the 24 passengers who remain unaccounted-for. Rescue workers have combed the area of the ship that remains above the water line. The salvage workers will begin once an official end to rescue efforts is declared. Along with them, a specialist team from Dutch salvage company SMIT is to start drilling through the ship towards the 17 tanks that hold more than 2,000 tones of fuel. The captain of the Italian ship, Francesco Schettino is under house arrest, accused of causing the crash.

The story of the sinking cruise ship off Italy’s coast has made headlines across the globe this week. The Catholic Apostleship of the Sea has been on hand to help passengers of the Concordia, which was carrying more than 4,000 passengers and hundreds of crew when it hit a bank of rocks off the island of Giglio in central Italy and capsized Friday night. The chaplain onboard assisted shocked crew and passengers, including those injured. The priest and parishioners of Giglio and the mainland have worked round the clock to assist passengers, many of whom were given first refuge in churches and schools. The local Italian chapters of the Apostleship of the Sea have been distributing clothing and food and are providing spiritual and emotional support. Each year the Apostleship of the Sea deploys chaplains on many cruise lines to support the pastoral and practical welfare of crew and passengers.

Last year more than 700 cruise chaplains provided 15,000 days of cruise chaplaincy across the world. Director of Development of the U.K. based Catholic Apostleship of the Sea, John Green, remembers another sea disaster – the sinking of a Russian cargo ship in the Irish sea late last year – and how the Apostleship’s volonteers and religious were on hand to help in any way they could. Listen to Tracey McClure's interview with John Green: