IT HAS been a home away from home for generations of sailors.

Thousands have found rest and support at Southampton’s Centre for Seafarers over the last 130 years, but in three weeks’ time its doors will close.

Managers say the service in Queen’s Terrace is no longer viable as only one in 50 visitors to the port use it.

The centre allows sailors to phone loved ones after months at sea and has a chapel, bar, entertainment, internet and counselling from dedicated port chaplains.

Its closure on April 29 could lead to job losses and will leave the city without a manned hub for the first time since 1884, when the Mission to Seafarers opened its first facility in Town Quay.

The three charities running it today have pledged to support mariners in different ways as more users stay aboard ship.

A spokeswoman for the Sailors’ Society said: “The time that the seafarers are spending in port has reduced quite radically and some seafarers don’t even have time to leave their ships, so that kind of change has meant that the use of Southampton Centre for Seafarers has dropped significantly.

“It’s not that we won’t continue to provide support and welfare to the seafarers coming in – what we want to do is make sure we’re meeting their needs still but in an effective way.

“We’re looking at working with other churches, charities, businesses and port authorities in the area to look at other opportunities.”

Unstaffed cabins at Southampton docks and Fawley will remain open and chaplains are in talks about offering more ship visits, the spokeswoman said.

She refused to disclose how many staff faced redundancy or what options were being explored.

But in an email to friends of the centre, manager Phillip Gilbert pointed to churches in other towns which have set up seafarers’ cafes.

He said the centre had suffered “sizeable losses despite investment from trustee societies”.

Sailor and volunteer Colin Baxter said the closure could affect Southampton’s standing.

He said: “We’re a port city – isn’t that what we’re supposed to be? Seafarers’ centres operate on an international scale and in my view this affects the credence of the port’s authority that we can’t maintain this service for seafarers.

He added: “It’s almost like a home from home. I’ve been a visitor there for six or seven years, I volunteer there and I have an appreciation.”

Mission to Seafarers (then Seamen) moved to Queen’s Terrace from Town Quay in 1935 and opened the revamped centre in 2005 with Apostleship of the Sea and the Sailors’ Society.

Rev Roger Stone, the Apostleship’s chaplain for the south coast, said: “We remain absolutely committed to serving the seafarers on the ships at Southampton.”

Martin Sandford, executive director of Mission to Seafarers, said its work would not be badly affected.

He added: “The city has expanded capacity in terms of cafes and so on with free wifi in the direction of the port. Many seafarers have as a result chosen to go into places nearer than the seafarer’s centre.”