London. UK. The Lloyds List article 'Maersk suspends crew after rape allegation involving cadet' has rightly challenged the current narrative and stigmas around reporting sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and intimidation of young seafarers set against a background of apparent industry indifference reflecting a collective malaise on the topic.
London. UK. / Constanza, Romania. The stranded Panamanian flagged MV ALI BEY (IMO 9070515) crew who have been abandoned and detained alongside Constanza port in Romania since 30 November 2020 without wage payment and suffering challenging conditions onboard have provided Human Rights at Sea with updated video testimony as to their position which amounts to a bleak outlook.
London. UK. / Auckland. New Zealand. At 4 am on June 20 2011, the entire Indonesian crew (32) walked off the Oyang 75 when it berthed in Port Lyttleton, Christchurch. This was the first time, anywhere in the world, an entire crew had walked off a South Korean factory trawler. They had been fishing at sea for only five weeks, on its first outing in New Zealand waters, yet already the crew had had enough of the abuses they had suffered by Korean officers within that short time period.
London. UK. The geo-political case of the hijacking in July 2020 of the GULF SKY from UAE waters to Iran with 28 Indian crew has been further investigated by the BBC in a long-read article now available on-line.
London. UK. On Saturday 13 February 2021 at 04:48, Human Rights at Sea received a direct call for assistance from an engine cadet who had been seriously assaulted by a senior crew member on a container ship en-route to the Port of London. The male cadet was frightened, he did not know where to turn and was in fear of his life.
London, UK. Human Rights at Sea today issues two new major international peer-reviewed reports focusing on Fisheries Observer safety, security and well-being in the Western and Central Pacific region, including for Observers employed by Commonwealth States through Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.
London. UK. Increasing numbers of cases of human and labour rights abuse towards Indonesian fishers on foreign flagged vessels are coming to light. Most recently, international NGOs, including Human Rights at Sea, have been contacted with evidence highlighting the fishers' plight, the poor working conditions in which they are forced to work and allegations of ill-treatment resulting in deaths at sea.
London. UK. Following unprecedented demand for copies of the new Human Rights at Sea fisheries report 'Fisheries Observer Deaths at Sea, Human Rights and the Role and Responsibilities of Fisheries Organisations ', the charity has updated its download options to provide both high and low resolution versions for download.
London. UK. At sea, fisheries observers are employed to provide oversight of the fish caught by commercial operators ensuring that the catch is correctly logged, and healthy fish stocks are maintained to ensure the sustainability of the world's oceans. Tragically, some fisheries observers are subject the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, work in fear of their lives, and in the worst cases, loose their lives through unlawful acts towards them.
"‘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."
Press Release 24 March 2020 Arbitration as a Means of Effective Remedy for Human Rights Abuses at Sea [Updated 10 May 2020 to include French Version and flow diagram now available to download] London, UK. Paris, France. On the UN International Day for the Right to The Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for...
London. UK. A Scottish skipper has been found guilty at Peterhead Sheriff's Court of assault and racially-aggravated harassment of five non-EEA crew members over a period of six years. It is reported that: "Gordon Hadden admitted racially harassing Jasen Gicale, Jason Gorgonia Gulane, Jay Suycano, Rolan Gulane Barte and Noly Frejoles on board the Serenity on various occasions between August 2013 and August 2019."
London. UK. Following recent advocacy work aimed at achieving ongoing improvements in the working conditions and protections for all fishers in the Taiwanese fishing industry, Human Rights at Sea today issues a new evidential case study. Highlighting the worrying power imbalance between migrant fishers, recruitment and manning agencies resulting in poor welfare support, the case study also highlights the need to align national polices and standards with international convention.
Press Release. 22nd September 2019. London. UK. The ITF Union has further backed the case of Captain Gennadiy Gavrylov who was arrested in Sri Lanka on 23 June 2016 in connection with the Sri Lankan flagged vessel Avant Garde (IMO 8107036). Importantly, ITF has explicitly highlighted the abuses of the Master's human rights reflecting established International Human Rights Law.
Press Release 9th July 2019 London. UK. One of the three remaining seafarers onboard the UAE flagged MV Tamim Aldar, owned by Dubai-based Eliteway Marine Services Ltd, has provided Human Rights at Sea with an exclusive updated personal testimony to the continuing issue of their abandonment by Eliteway now seven nautical miles inside of UAE...
