Tag: human rights

New Zealand's Prime Minister issued a public policy statement, intending to amend the Maritime Transport Act 1994 to enable the existing maritime levy to fund the services required for seafarers’ wellbeing, reflecting the requirements of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006.

While the maritime authorities have the main responsibility of ensuring the effectiveness of the flag States’ monitoring and reporting systems for human rights issues, these mechanisms are not always sufficiently implemented, a new report by British charity Human Rights at Sea shows. 

A group of shipping bodies and associations sent an open letter to European Commissioners, including President Ursula von der Leyen, calling for prompt and predictable disembarkations of persons rescued by merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea.

Maritime UK has recently founded an LGBT+ Network, seeking to connect individuals and companies across different sectors of maritime, with LGBT+ people both at sea and ashore, in order to develop the industry and recognise its diverse workforce. 

Governments need to urgently act to ensure ships’ crew changeovers can take place to keep world trade flowing and avert a humanitarian and ship safety crisis, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim reiterated once again during a virtual meeting.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, Human Rights at Sea issued a case study concerning the welfare of the seafarers and the financial hardships they face during the pandemic.

Following the COVID-19 crisis and the crew change matter that has presented within the shipping community, Maritime New Zealand designated seafarer welfare representatives as "essential workers".

While human presence has touched almost every corner in this planet, the world's oceans will always remain the unsolved mystery: Too big to explore, and, most importantly, too big to regulate.

In violation of MLC 2006, there have recently been several cases where seafarers were denied their legal right to medical treatment due to COVID-19 restrictions. In this regard, JNG and ITF urgently called on governments to step up and not use the COVID-19 to refuse seafarers’ human rights.

On the UN International Day for the Right to The Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, Human Rights at Sea, in collaboration with law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP, launched a legal project to enable the resolution of disputes regarding human rights abuses at sea using international arbitration.