London. UK. Following an incident onboard a Liberian flagged container vessel entering UK territorial waters in February 2021 in which a male engineering cadet was attacked by a fellow crew member thereby putting him in fear for his safety, Human Rights at Sea today publishes an Insight Briefing Note on the key issue of safeguarding cadets’ safety, health and well-being.
London. UK. The Master of the MV Ali Bey (IMO 9070515) has provided a voluntary video testimony to Human Rights at Sea outlining the privations that he and the remaining three Syrian crew members continue to suffer since their vessel was arrested and abandoned by its owner in Constanza Port, Romania, in November 2020 with earned wages owed prior to that date stated as totalling USD $175,000.
Press Release 11 July 2021 “…please hear us and rescue us from this hell.” London. UK. In the last week, Human Rights at Sea has received multiple messages from seafarers requesting urgent assistance as the crew change crisis and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to bite deep in the 1.6-1.7 million strong seafarer community....
London. UK. In a historic move, the New Zealand government has updated its Maritime Transport Act 1994 to reflect the effective lobbying undertaken by the New Zealand Seafarer's Welfare Board with the supporting independent report into failures to financially support seafarers and their welfare services by Human Rights at Sea issued in April 2020 with attached Counsel's opinion. The legislative amendment comes into force today.
London, UK. The 13th episode of the Even Keel podcast produced by Abhijith Balakrishnan, a seafarer and Marine Superintendent with Scorpio India, engages Human Rights at Sea through Joanne Rawley and David Hammond in discussing key issues currently affecting seafarers and driving the work of the charity.
London, UK. The New Zealand Minister of Transport, the Honourable Michael Wood, has confirmed to Human Rights at Sea the forthcoming legislative change to the Maritime Transport Act for long-term and sustainable funding of seafarer's centres. This follows the international report issued by the charity in April 2020, "New Zealand: Under-Funding of Seafarers’ Welfare Services and Poor MLC Compliance” drafted in direct support of the New Zealand Seafarers' Welfare Board's efforts to achieve this change.
London. UK. Human Rights at Sea is pleased to report that the Labour-led New Zealand Government has publicly announced it will fulfil its manifesto pledge and commitment to improve seafarer welfare through funding from the maritime levies triggered by lobbying from the Seafarers Welfare Board and the March 2020 report from HRAS ‘Under funding of Seafarer’ Welfare Services and Poor MLC Compliance’.
London, UK. Human Rights at Sea has instructed 9 Bedford Row Chambers, London, to support the ongoing review of the case of Eritara Aatii Kaierua, the Kiribati fisheries observer who was found dead onboard the Taiwanese-flagged vessel WIN FAR 636, in March of this year while fishing in PNG waters.
London. UK. Human Rights at Sea publishes the fourth in a series of independent international reports and reviews concerning the safety, security and well-being of Fisheries Observers in the Western and Central Pacific region titled: 'Draft Proposal for Model Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Conservation & Management Measure (CMM) on Human Rights and Labour Rights Protections for Fisheries Observers' Safety, Security and Well-being'.
London. UK. Triggered by today's case of the detention by UK Special Forces from the Special Boat Service (SBS) of seven stowaways onboard the crude oil tanker the Nave Adromeda in UK territorial waters which had sailed from Lagos, Nigeria on 5 October; tonight, Human Rights at Sea brings forward its publication for updated independent international guidance: 'Deprivation of Liberty on board Private Ships'.
Joint Press Release Update to MT Gulf Sky Crew Case 21 October 2020 “Sir, it is very painful experience for me which [has been] never seen before in my life.” ‘The consequences of not being able to return to sea to work and earn a wage are profound on both the crew, and their...
London. UK. In partnership with the Chair of the New Zealand Seafarers Welfare Board, the Reverend John McLister of the Mission to Seafarers (NZ), Human Rights at Sea is pleased to announce the public policy statement by the New Zealand Government that it intends to amend the Maritime Transport Act 1994 to enable the existing maritime levy to fund the services required for seafarers’ wellbeing.
‘‘If an observer discovers things they weren’t intended to know about, they can face intimidation, threats, violence and, in the worst cases, murder.’’ London. UK. Human Rights at Sea today issues the latest in its series of Insight Briefing Notes covering key human rights issues within the maritime environment. Titled 'The Role of a Fisheries Observer' the insight is provided by Martin Purves, who prior to his present role as the Managing Director of the International Pole and Line Foundation, spent years at sea in fisheries management roles, including as a fisheries observer.
"‘Once I was transshipped [the action of transferring fish or crew between vessels]. I was put into a steel crate (the one they keep fish in) along with my belongings and my papers in a plastic bag. They put floats or buoys around the crate so that it would float; they gave me a torch. It was 5 o’clock in the afternoon when they dropped me over the side with my gear but it wasn’t until nearly 10 o’clock before the second vessel came and picked me up: I was all alone, wet and floating in a steel crate, in the black ocean."
London, UK. Following the recent highlighting to Human Rights at Sea (HRAS) of concerns from seafarers about lack of access to, and availability of, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) while serving on vessels transiting global shipping lanes, the charitable NGO has engaged with the maritime industry most recently speaking with the Thome Group about their actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows recent HRAS articles challenging the PPE issue.
