Apostleship of the Sea has announced redundancies in light of a "serious financial situation" brought on by falling voluntary contributions.
Two chaplaincy posts, one full-time in South Wales and one part-time in Scotland, will be made redundant, as well as an administrative post and the position of web editor.
Apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic ministry with port chaplains in the UK and around the world, said it had made a "significant loss" in the previous financial year. The redundancies, it said, were "part of a cost cutting exercise needed to immediately bring the charity back to a stable financial situation".
Captain Paul Quinn OBE, newly appointed National Director of the Apostleship of the Sea (AoS), said, "Our duty is to support and protect some of the most vulnerable and poorly treated people in the shipping world, and protecting the services we provide to them means that we have to take difficult decisions.
"We do not take these decisions lightly but we have to consider our mission and the best use of our supporters' donations."
Apostleship of the Sea does not receive any funding from the government or the church, making it completely reliant on voluntary donations.
"We depend heavily on our annual Sea Sunday appeal to underpin our fundraising, but with only 50 per cent of parishes taking part and declining Mass attendance, we have seen the revenue from this decrease year on year," said Captain Quinn.
He remained optimistic that Apostleship of the Sea could pull through the present difficulties.
"This painful process must be endured in order to continue our vital work in the ports. We are grateful to all those who have been in touch to pledge their support and want to reassure all our donors that Apostleship of the Sea will emerge stronger and leaner, ready to meet all the challenges of the 21st century," he said.
