IMO Sec-Gen appeals for safety of seafarers

IMO Sec-Gen appeals for safety of seafarers
CIH March 2, 2022 https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/03/02/business/maritime/imo-sec-gen-app...

ON the fourth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the international shipping community expressed serious concerns about the war's impact on global shipping, especially on the safety of thousands of seafarers

International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Kitack Lim echoed the call of UN Secretary-General António Guterres' call for hostilities to cease immediately as he underscored the war's direct effects on trade and services.

"I am gravely concerned about the spillover effects of the military action in Ukraine on global shipping, and logistics and supply chains, in particular the impacts on the delivery of commodities and food to developing nations and the impacts on energy supplies," Lim said.

The IMO official added that "shipping, particularly seafarers, cannot be collateral victims in a larger political and military crisis — they must be safe and secure."Lim made the appeal for the safety of seafarers in the wake of reported attacks by Russian Navy ships of at least three merchant vessels in the Baltic Sea that caused damage to the ships and injury to many seafarers.

Earlier, the world's biggest shipowners' group the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) warned that the war and the sanctions the European Union and its allies would impose on the Russian Federation would have a direct impact on Russian and Ukrainian seafarers.

Citing the latest Baltic and International Maritime Council (Bimco)/ICS Seafarer Workforce Report, the ICS projected there would be supply chain disruption if the free movement of Ukrainian and Russian seafarers is impeded because of the hostilities. Out of the world's 1.89 million seafarers, nearly 200,000 are Russians and 75,000 are Ukrainians, according to the Bimco/ICS report.

To maintain trade, ICS said seafarers must be able to travel for crew changes freely at ports around the world, but that is now close to impossible for Russian and Ukrainian seafarers since commercial flights had been canceled in both countries' parts of neighboring regions.

ICS also pointed out that the ability to pay seafarers needs to be maintained via international banking systems, but salary payments to Russian seafarers via bank transfer could become a problem if Russia's financial system is cut off from the global system as a result of the Western sanctions.

Meanwhile at home, relatives of the 21 Filipino crewmembers of the cargo ship, M/V Namura Queen, that was hit Friday night by a missile while at the port of Yuzhny, east of Odessa, by a Russian warship, reportedly appealed to the Philippine government for help.

One of the relatives, who is based in Zamboanga City, received a message via messenger from a Filipino crewmember of the Panama-flagged bulk carrier, assuring him that the rest of the crew are safe and they now are sailing towards Romania. Only one crew member was injured in the attack.

The message of the unnamed crewmember M/V Namura Queen also includes an appeal to the government for help to secure their safe return to the country.