Until Sunday, July 27, only Honiara had hosted such an event.

Both merchant seafarers and fishermen of companies operating out of Noro Industrial Township and around the Western province attended the worship service with family members, friends, church dignitaries and guests.

Sea Sunday is an annual international event normally marked on the second Sunday of July to remember and thank seafarers for their work and the church's ministry to offer them spiritual and practical support.

The inaugural program started with a colorful parade by seafarers and guests led by a local panpipe group and then a lively ecumenical worship service. Churches were represented by their choirs, youth groups, pastors, ministers and elders.

A United Church minister, the Rev. Qariqari, preached at the service encouraging seafarers that their vocation is a call they must acknowledge and thank God for.

"Life at sea is full of challenges given its nature, however God will always be there for you since he puts you there," he said.

President of Noro Town Council, Ishmael Kuvi, in his address following the service, thanked the Mission to Seafarers Office for such a wonderful program recognizing the great men and women who navigate, toil and labor with unmatched sacrifice for the service of mankind.

"Noro Town Council will continue to support the work of the Mission to Seafarers in the Western Solomons and in particular the development plan of the Seafarers Centre in Noro town," he said.

The Rev. Mark Graham, assistant mission secretary of the Melanesian Board of Mission of the Church of Melanesia, spoke for the office of the Mission to Seafarers.

While the local Mission to Seafarers Office is run as part of the ministry of the Church of Melanesia, support from other sister churches and shipping and fishing operators in this ministry, Graham said, can offer insurmountable assistance to meet effectively the needs of both local and overseas seafarers.

"Seafarers are our nation's lifeline, but they live hard and often lonely lives on our behalf to ensure that our daily needs are met," he said. "The importance of this ministry is that it gives a quality of service, provides our seafarers friendship, build mental and social relationships regardless of who or where they come."

Graham encouraged the churches and its people in Noro, government authorities, and the shipping and fishing industry in the Western Solomons to look after and care for their seafarers.

Chaplain to the Solomon Islands Mission to Seafarers, the Rev. Wilson Mapuru, said he was delighted with the way the program was organized and thanked companies and individuals in Noro for their unfaltering effort.

Meanwhile Noro is soon to host the national Seafarers Centre. Equipment for the centre has already arrived but is awaiting additional funds from the International Transport Federation in London, England to build a much larger space for recreational activities.

Seafarers Centre is a place where local and overseas seamen can meet and socialize while on land.