Tag: migrants

The Mediterranean Sea has sadly become "a sea of tears, a sea of misery," said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

The North P&I Club warned shipowner of the need to be properly prepared to meet their moral and legal obligations to rescue migrants at sea

BIMCO has stated that it appreciates the reduce of the reliance on merchant shipping to rescue distressed migrants

Over 13,500 people were rescued in the period of 10 - 17 April 2015 The Skuld P&I Club has posted an article on its website to provide an update on the refugee and migrant crisis in the Mediterranean Sea.According to the UN High Commission for Refugees, over 13,500 people were rescued in the period of 10 April to 17 April 2015, and 900 are feared to have perished this.The Club reminds masters to be fully aware of their obligations under international convention and local laws to assist distressed persons at sea. A failure to render assistance may create legal, including criminal, liabilities.If a vessel comes across distressed persons at sea, then it is an obligation with the force of law that assistance must be rendered (subject to the safety of the crew and vessel rendering the assistance).There are many considerations to keep in mind when this situation arises, and masters should take the following steps amongst the other necessary measures to respond to the situation in a safe and responsible manner:identify the likely number of vessels and people being encounteredurgently contact the nearest responsible maritime authority / coast guard of the situationassess how assistance can be safely renderedprovide such assistance ...

IMO Sec-Gen welcomes EU ten-point plan on migration

Says the merchant shipping industry 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 Brussels, Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General of the European Community Shipowners Associations (ECSA) commented: EU leaders have agreed to increase resources and assets available for search and rescue operations, within the mandate of Frontex. Laudable as these efforts are, they still fall short of the scale and mandate of last year's Italian operation Mare Nostrum, which saved hundreds of thousands of people in 2014. What is needed immediately is a similar, EU-led, large-scale search and rescue mission, able to operate far from the EU territorial waters, which is where most of the ...

Launch a proper EU SAR operation to prevent the further loss of thousands more lives In advance of the emergency EU Council Summit (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.The shipping industry says that the decision taken by EU Foreign Ministers to bolster the FRONTEX-led Triton mission is a step in the right direction, but potentially falls short of the need for an operation with similar resources and geographical scope as the Italian Mare Nostrum operation which was suspended last year.Following the terrible tragedy last weekend, the shipping industry, the citizens of Europe, and the wider international community, expect the leaders of Europe to act decisively and to maintain the new momentum for something to be done.In Brussels, Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General of the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) commented, "The shipping industry recognises that the underlying issues are very complex. But when dealing with the imminent life or death of thousands of people, fast and decisive action ...

The Secretary-General of IMO called for coordinated action to safeguard migrants

Merchant shipping industry repeats call for urgent and immediate collective action by EU member states

Citizenship Commissioner Avramopoulous presented a 10 point plan of the immediate actions to crisis situation in the Mediterranean