The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has called for the urgent evacuation of crew trapped on ships berthed in ports due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and warned that current supply chain disruptions are likely to be compounded due to the war.
Speaking ahead of an address to UN member states at an urgently convened meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Guy Platten, ICS secretary general, said the war in Ukraine was impacting global trade and the safety of crew.
“The conflict in Ukraine is having a significant impact upon the safety and security of seafarers and shipping in the area. As with Covid, seafarers are being exposed to issues not of their making.
“Multiple ships have been hit by munitions, seafarers have been killed and injured and seafarers of all nationalities are trapped on ships berthed in ports,” said Platten.
“It is of the utmost urgency that their evacuation from these areas of threat should be ensured by those states with the power to do so. The impact upon innocent seafarers and their families cannot be underestimated.
“ICS fully supports the establishment of a maritime corridor to allow the safe evacuation of ships that are currently unable to leave territorial waters in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. They must be allowed to depart the area of conflict and avoid further humanitarian incident,” he said.
The ICS has also warned that the ongoing conflict could further impact global supply chain disruptions due to a shortage of crew.
The Seafarer Workforce Report, published in 2021 by the Baltic and International Maritime Council and ICS, reports that 1.89 million seafarers are currently operating over 74 000 vessels in the global merchant fleet.
ICS represents 80% of the world’s merchant fleet.
To maintain trade levels, seafarers must be able to join and disembark ships (crew change) freely across the world.
However, flights had been cancelled to and from the region, making this increasingly difficult, ICS said. Fears over crew safety and increasing insurance premiums to send ships to Ukraine or Russia had also discouraged ship owners from sending vessels to these countries.
Industry has reported that some crews have abandoned their ships in Ukraine due to security worries.
Of shipping’s total workforce, 198 123 (10.5%) of seafarers are Russian, of which 71 652 are officers and 126 471 are ratings.
Ukraine accounts for 76 442 (4%) of seafarers, of which 4 058 are officers and 29 383 are ratings. Combined, they represent 14.5% of the global workforce.
ICS’s warning comes ahead of an Extraordinary Meeting of the UN, under the auspices of the IMO, where industry will present an eight-point plan on how to ensure seafarer wellbeing.
This will include calls for states to ensure seafarers access their pay, and for the establishment of safe corridors for ships to leave ports in Ukraine.
Shipping is currently responsible for the movement of nearly 90% of global trade.
Ukraine and Russia alone account for a quarter of all global wheat exports, while Russia controls 12.5% of crude petroleum exports, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). Already, Lloyd’s List estimates that exports of crude and oil products from Russia have fallen by 1.5m barrels per day (bpd), from previous estimated levels of some seven million bpd before the Ukraine invasion.
