Christians are being urged to remember, and pray for, the more than 1.5 million people who work as merchant seafarers.

The huge number of people who work to provide food and other supplies around the world will be in the prayers of churches as they mark 'Sea Sunday.'

It's a project of The Mission to Seafarers (MtS), which works in over 200 ports in 50 countries.

Secretary general Andrew Wright said: 'Sea Sunday is the one day of the year, set aside by churches, to honour and celebrate the incredible work seafarers do. Without them, our quality of life would be greatly diminished as over 90 per cent of everything we need and use is transported via the sea. '

Churches are encouraged to have children and young people write notes which can then be sent to seafarers via a network of chaplains who work alongside them. Other staff also offer professional help and advice if a seafarer has not been paid or is working in substandard conditions, being bullied or has been a victim of wrongful arrest.

Alejandro, an unemployed sailor from the Phillipines, said he's received support from Rev Mark Classen, a chaplian with MtS: 'Their personnel and volunteers came to my home with groceries and the things we needed. However, more than their material gifts, they managed to give us spiritual support as they prayed for the family, giving us words of hope and comfort and telling us that they could fully relate to our situation.'