Seatrade-Maritime: IMO chief urges states to stop attacks on merchant shipping

Published by Seatrade-Maritime

As merchant vessels crewed by civilian seafarers find themselves the target of militaries on both sides of multiple ongoing conflicts, IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez has called on member states to refrain from actions that endanger merchant ships and put seafarers’ lives at risk.

“We are reaching a point where these conflicts are being used as a pretext to attack merchant vessels and innocent seafarers. Do not use these conflicts to attack innocent seafarers,” Dominguez said at the opening of the IMO Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers.

The IMO’s list of confirmed incidents counts over 80 attacks on shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of hostilities between the US and Iran on 28 February. At least 22 seafarers have been killed, at least two remain missing, and many have been injured.

There has been a change in the pattern of attacks on ships this month as the US began attacking Iranian oil tankers in response to Iran’s targeting of US Navy vessels. Iran in turn launched more attacks on international shipping.

The IMO also called attention to the dozens of fatalities in the Blacks Sea and Sea of Azov, where both Russia and Ukraine have targeted merchant shipping to disrupt military supply lines and cause economic damage. Exact numbers of seafarer fatalities are hard to verify, said IMO.

“In the Strait of Hormuz, it is not only one country attacking merchant vessels. In the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, it is not only one country attacking merchant vessels,” said Dominguez.

The secretary-general urged delegates to raise the consequences of these geopolitical events on shipping with their own governments and on international platforms.

“I call on you to share these impacts with the relevant bodies in your countries so that this can be dealt with within the United Nations, as appropriate.… It falls to you and your capitals, and relevant bodies of the United Nations, to address the root causes and find solutions,” said Dominguez.