The Catholic Apostleship of the Sea and Anglican Mission to Seafarers held a joint conference in Lyttelton on the weekend of September 8-9 to map the future service to seafarers in Lyttelton and to use this as a template for other seafaring services in other New Zealand ports. 
Inspired by the leadership of Jess and Rob Armstrong, the areas of focus were advocacy for seafarers’ rights in partnership with Maritime NZ and the Maritime Union of NZ — representatives of which were also present — and strategies for seafarer welfare when in New Zealand ports.

At an open community meeting on the Sunday, Port Hills MP Ruth Dyson and Christchurch deputy mayor Andrew Turner committed local and national Government support for the endeavour so New Zealand would be second to none in care for seafarers globally.

Work is being done so that Lyttelton Harbour itself will eventually be able to host larger cruise ships with up to 5000 passengers and 200 crew.