(Photo courtesy of Operation Mobilization)
International (MNN) ― The world's oldest ocean-going passenger ship, Operation Mobilization's Doulos, will retire on December 31st.
"This is not what any of us wanted and has serious consequences for everyone on board--those about to join and ports we planned to visit," said Peter Nicoll, Chief Executive Officer of OM Ships International.
The ship's hull was built in 1914, two years after the Titanic. For the last 32 years, it has traveled the world with Operation Mobilization, bringing the hope of the Gospel, Christian literature, relief work, and support for local churches.
"We recognize God's faithfulness
through these 32 years of wonderful service of the ‘servant' Doulos, as
an outstanding OM ministry, through more than 600 port visits in over 100
countries," Nicoll said. "Many lives
have been transformed --both visitors and those who have served on board."
It's been a challenge to maintain the 95-year-old ship for many years. Now it needs repairs that would cost more than $14 million and take five months to complete. Since it would only be able to continue ministry for a limited amount of time even after these repairs, OM Ships made the decision to discontinue its service.
"We are committed to operating safe ships and complying with the requirements of our classification society, RINA, as well as the International Safety Management requirements for ships," Nicoll said. "We have been praying that God would use this five-year ‘special survey' to give us a clear picture of the way forward for Doulos, and He has done that."
OM ships has a potential buyer for Doulos, which could be used as a museum ship and for ministry training. In the meantime, the Doulos remains docked in Singapore until it makes its final journey. OM is working on finding a way to eventually replace the ship. It is also helping its staff transition to other fields of ministry.
"We have now completed initial interviews with all on board and are beginning to get a picture of those who would like to transfer to Logos Hope or transfer to other OM fields," Nicoll explained. "Do please continue to pray for our personnel team on board Doulos as they spend many hours of communication between sending and receiving fields to make all these transfers possible."
Pray for this challenging transition and for God to provide resources to sustain the OM Ships ministry.
"Our financial forecasting of the impact of these events has left us with a fairly clear picture that this is going to have a substantial effect on our financial position for the foreseeable future," Nicoll explained. "An account has been setup called 'Doulos Project' where all gifts received for the decommissioning of Doulos can be allocated."
