Seafarers International House is the Lutheran response to the urgent needs of vulnerable seafarers and immigrants. We offer affordable accommodation to seafarers with a valid MMC at a different location. Seafarers International House is the Lutheran response to the urgent needs of vulnerable seafarers and immigrants. Seafarers International House (SIH) was founded over 152 years ago in 1873 by the Swedish Lutheran Church, initially as a mission to Swedish seafarers in the Port of New York and shortly thereafter as a mission to both Swedish seafarers and Swedish immigrants. Incidental to the consolidation of various Lutheran judicatories in the United States over the years, Seafarers International House became an affiliated mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1987. It is a tax-exempt, 501 (c) (3) organization, incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation under the laws of New York State.