The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) call for urgent action to protect seafarers and vessels stranded in Ukrainian ports and nearby waters, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
ILO director-general, Guy Ryder and IMO secretary-general, Kitack Lim, wrote a joint letter to the heads of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to outline the plight of seafarers who are stuck on more than 100 vessels on ports of Ukraine and nearby waters.
Approximately 1,000 seafarers are currently trapped in Ukraine, including the besieged city of Mariupol, and the Sea of Azov, with dwindling vital supplies, according to the IMO.
The letter asks the three agencies to “take urgent action” to assist in the reprovisioning of the ships with the needed vital supplies.
“As well as the dangers arising from bombardment, many of the ships concerned now lack food, fuel, fresh water and other vital supplies. The situation of the seafarers from many countries is becoming increasingly untenable as a result, presenting grave risks to their health and well-being,” wrote Ryder and Lim in the letter.
This move by IMO and ILO follows urgent communications about the seafarers’ situation sent by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), while all the four organisations are working together to provide relief agencies with information that may assist them to protect the seafarers.
In March, the ILO’s Governing Body passed a resolution calling on the Russian Federation to “immediately and unconditionally cease its aggression” against Ukraine.
