Tag: MV Iceberg 1

MPHRP provides support to the family of missing Iceberg1 seafarer

The Seamen's Church Institute's (SCI) Douglas B. Stevenson, Director of SCI's Center for Seafarers' Rights, recently sat down with former hostages from the MV Iceberg 1 in Accra, Ghana to hear about their experiences and how they find life two years after release from pirate captivity.

MPHRP South Asia Regional Director South Asia, assisted one of the Yemen based crew of Iceberg 1 with medical support during his treatment in Mumbai

Hostages from MV ICeberg 1 finally arrived home after over 1000 days in captivity "It was truly like being born again. We had given up hope and suddenly we were brought back to life," one of the surviving crew members of the MV ICEBERG 1 said as he was released on his birthday, after being held hostage for over 1000 days by pirates off the coast of Somalia.After almost three years in captivity, the hostages of the ship were set free in December 2012 and the UNPOS Counter Piracy Unit arranged for the repatriation of the crew members and flew to Bossaso on 30 December to receive them.For two years and nine months the 22 surviving hostages endured terrible treatment.Part of the crew had just joined the vessel two days prior to the hijacking, not knowing they would remain there for almost three years under miserable conditions. The crew was tortured and beaten on a regular basis. At times they had to resort to drinking salt water in order to survive and they were forced to work in life threatening conditions. One crew members had his ears cut off, another lost vision in one eye due to ruthless beatings and ...

Crew member of MV Iceberg 1 arrives home after 1000 days in captivity

ITF tells Panama it s time to do the decent thing' for Iceberg 1 crew

Says IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu Speaking at the opening of the IMO's first meeting of the year, the Sub-Committee on Fire Protection, IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu told delegates that it was his vision that halving lives lost at sea and eradicating pirate attacks, as well as ensuring the release of all hostages can, and should, be legitimate targets, for the Organization and for shipping in the years to come.Mr Sekimizu said that the number of lives lost annually at sea has been over 1,000 for each of the past five years. Despite the difficulty in obtaining precise and reliable data for such losses, he said that approximate figures for 2012 included approximately 100 lives lost in the fishing sector, 400 in domestic operations, and around 500 in other categories, including international shipping*.An ambitious, but achievable target, he said, would be to aim for a 50 per cent reduction, to no more than 500 lives lost annually, by 2015. He said that the matter could be addressed at the IMO Symposium on Future Ship Safety in June, and went on to identify a number of mechanisms that could help the target to be reached, specifically:implementation of the Torremolinos Protocol through the ...

Rescued hostages of MV Iceberg 1 recount their ordeal

Somali troops free 22 hostages held by pirates

Families fears for hijacked UAE ship crew