United Nations, Sep 25 (PTI) India on Friday said that repeated attacks on seafarers that disrupt maritime commerce and cost innocent lives are “indefensible” and “unacceptable”, as Delhi launched a landmark maritime initiative with Liberia focused on safety and security of sea personnel and shipping.
“From the Black Sea to the Red Sea to the Gulf, attacks on civilian shipping have become a growing cause of concern. These actions that disrupt maritime commerce and cost innocent lives are simply indefensible. We are here to not just highlight this dangerous trend, but to urge the international community to close ranks and deter such attacks,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar, along with Liberia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Sara Beysolow Nyanti, launched the ‘Group of Friends on Safety & Security of Shipping & Seafarers’ here on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session.
India and Liberia will serve as co-chairs of the Group of Friends, which would focus on various aspects of maritime trade, safety, and security. As an inclusive platform, Jaishankar said the endeavour has been to bring all relevant stakeholders together.
The group consists of major ship-owning member states, countries with the largest number of ship registries, and those that provide the maximum numbers to seafaring.
Addressing the inaugural meeting of the group, Jaishankar listed recent attacks against maritime vessels and seafarers that resulted in the death of Indian shipping personnel as well as damage to the containers.
He said that just two days ago, an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier MV Cape Dao was attacked in the Gulf of Oman, in which an Indian sailor lost his life. Earlier, a Panama-flagged oil tanker El Gaia was struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. An Indian crew member went missing after that incident.
“These, regretably, are no longer exceptional occurrences. In the last few months, commercial shipping and marinas have been subjected to repeated attacks in the Gulf, the Red Sea, and its vicinity. Such unacceptable actions are also occurring in the Black Sea,” Jaishankar said.
He said that recent global developments underline the threats posed to the safety and security of seafarers, including prolonged confinement on board, delayed crew changes and repatriation, separation from families, psychological distress and lethal attacks.
“Despite the existence of international and regional frameworks for protecting the rights of seafarers, there is a need for stronger and closer international cooperation on this matter,” he said.
Jaishankar recalled that during the recently concluded BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed establishing a seafarers emergency support network, which could connect the maritime authorities and embassies of the countries concerned, and facilitate distress alerts, medical assistance, communication with families, and support for evacuation when needed.
Later in remarks to the press at the UN Headquarters, Jaishankar underlined that in recent months, the world has seen “unacceptable attacks” on commercial shipping and merchant marinas. These “legally and morally indefensible” attacks have occurred from the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf to the Red Sea and the Black Sea.
“We believe that there can be no justification for such violence and loss of lives. Put simply, these attacks must stop,” he said.
“The world is today beset by conflicts and confrontation. These are threatening the basic needs of the international community, including food, fuel, fertiliser, and finance — the four Fs. Our initiative is meant to add to the factors of stability and confidence in what is otherwise an uncertain and turbulent world, and to signal that the international community cannot just be a spectator, or indeed a victim of violence.”
Given that India is a major source country for seafarers and Liberia hosts the largest shipping registry by tonnage, the two countries have joined hands on the initiative aimed at drawing greater global attention to issues pertaining to the seafarers and the commercial shipping industry.
He noted that nearly two million seafarers operate the world’s merchant fleet, “often navigating choppy waters, both literally and metaphorically”.
With maritime shipping accounting for four-fifths of the global trade of USD 35 trillion last year, Jaishankar emphasised that the group will be an “inclusive, voluntary, and action-oriented platform aimed at deepening cooperation among member states and other stakeholders.
“It will promote exchange of views, sharing of experiences and practical cooperation. It will complement and strengthen the existing international frameworks, mandates, and instruments in these areas, and the discussions and deliberations of the group will focus on issues of importance with regard to shipping and seafarers,” he said.
Members of the group will join hands to highlight and advance this issue in various formats, plurilateral and multilateral, including the UN, and the International Maritime Organisation, International Labour Organisation and others. PTI YAS GRS GRS
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