The merchant shipping industry – which in the past 16 months participated in almost 1,000 migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean – welcomes the decision by EU leaders to triple resources of the Triton operation. The shipping sector similarly supports the commitment of EU Member States to deploy additional operational means, including vessels and planes, to achieve this objective at relatively short notice. But the fact that operation Triton remains within the mandate of FRONTEX, the EU border agency, raises serious questions about the extent to which these efforts will fully ensure the immediate prevention of further loss of life, which should be the absolute priority.
In advance of the emergency EU Council Summit tomorrow (Thursday 23 April) to address the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, the European and global shipping industries insist that the urgent priority is for EU Member States to immediately launch a proper EU Search and Rescue operation with sufficient resources to prevent the further loss of thousands more lives.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED JOINTLY BY ECSA, ETF, ICS AND ITF
European and global operators of merchant ships have joined forces with seafarers’ unions to urge EU Member States to take immediate collective action to address the growing humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean Sea.
The boards of the International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) are pleased to announce the moving of the activities of the MPHRP into ISWAN. A transfer agreement was signed by both parties on 3 August 2015. ISWAN will now be responsible for all the activities of the highly respected MPHRP. The move to ISWAN will enable the programme to develop under the auspices of a well-established international seafarers’ welfare organisation that is registered as a charity.
The humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean Sea is spiralling out of control. EU Member States must act urgently to prevent the loss of thousands more lives, as hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees seek to escape to Europe in boats that are unfit for purpose and which are largely operated by people smugglers.
Submitted by Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, BIMCO, CLIA, IALA, ICS, InterManager and the Nautical Institute, Maritime Safety Committee, 95th Session, Agenda Item 19, March 2015.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is hopeful progress can now be made towards improving the facilitation of shore leave and crew transfers for the world’s 1.5 million merchant seafarers, who collectively transport about 90% of world trade. This follows important recommendations by an International Labour Organization (ILO) tripartite meeting of employers, seafarers’ unions and governments in Geneva last week, at which ICS co-ordinated the shipowners’ representation.
Leaflet prepared jointly by ICS, IMO and UNHCR providing guidance on relevant legal provisions, and on practical procedures to ensure the prompt disembarkation of survivors of rescue operations, and measures to meet their specific needs, particularly in the case of refugees and asylum-seekers.