International maritime charity Sailors’ Society is calling on ship owners to embrace conflict resolution as a matter of urgency, following three knife attacks at sea. The charity supports that shipowners should avoid and prevent these incidents in the safety of seafarers.
Mainly, Sailors’ Society’s CEO Stuart Rivers stated
The tragic news, that two people were killed on board a vessel in the Indian Ocean and six people are missing, is the latest in a spate of stabbings at sea and our thoughts are with those affected.
The last knife attack occurred on February 4 2019, as a crewmember of the LR2 tanker STI Guard was seriously injured in a knife attack.
In addition, the container ship MSC Marta had to interrupt its voyage from Dominican Republic to Santos Brazil on January 28, and head for Guyana, after a crew member attacked three others, the cook, an engineer and a fitter.
Moreover, the CEO commented that their chaplains reach out to 1.000 seafarers every day in ports around the world, they know just how hard life at sea can be for these men and women and support them through a variety of crises.
Alongside its chaplaincy work, Sailors’ Society runs a Wellness at Sea programme, which aims to help seafarers improve their on board well-being and includes training on crisis resolution.
Finally, the charity also has a global Crisis Response Network, which provides trauma care and counselling to survivors of piracy attacks, natural disasters and crises at sea.