At the start of 2021, when the 70^th Anniversary year of SMOU began, the Union launched a slew of initiatives to support members and also involve them in outreaches to the community. One such initiative was “Sail Because of You,” which invited SMOU sea-going members to clock in their sailed nautical miles for a good cause. SMOU committed to donate funds in support of two key partner institutes of the Union—The Mission to Seafarers Singapore (MTSS) and the NTUC Health Henderson Home—for nautical miles sailed and submitted by a registered member.

By the end of the initiative, more than 60 seafaring members had stepped forward to participate, clocking in an impressive total of more than 1.6 million nautical miles! To put the distance into perspective, it is more than seven times the distance from Earth to the moon!