The global shipping industry is stepping up calls for the United Nations and aid groups to help evacuate hundreds of seafarers on more than 60 merchant ships still stuck in Ukrainian ports a year after Russia’s invasion .
In the weeks following the start of the war, some 2,000 crewmen were caught in the crossfire of the ships in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Safe corridors helped reduce that number in the following months. But the remaining total is an estimated 331 sailors on 62 ships: a mix of bulk carriers, a container ship, oil and chemical tankers, a few hopper dredgers, an icebreaker and a tugboat.
To mark the one-year anniversary this week, the International Chamber of Shipping and more than 30 other industry participants sent a letter calling on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “to address this matter as a matter of urgency” .
“We didn’t want it to be forgotten, because of course there’s been great success with the grain initiative – three ports are open, ships can come and go carrying grain with an inspection regime in place,” Guy said Platten, secretary. general of the ICS. “I don’t want to diminish the success of this, and long may it continue, but we still have this residual number of ships that still cannot sail.”
The only ships allowed to move safely through the area are those approved by the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Most of the seafarers come from developing countries and are used to long stretches such as the sea, but two years of transport disruptions due to the pandemic forced many of them to work long after their contracts expired .
Platten said the sailors who cannot leave the war zone are from 15 countries: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Russia, Syria, Turkey and Ukraine .
Stella Maris, a UK maritime charity, said it has been offering food parcels to stranded crews and that in January, a chaplain under military escort resumed regular visits to ships docked in Odesa.
“We just have to keep pushing the issue and bringing it up, and hopefully then we start that negotiation on the diplomatic solution, which is essentially getting the ships sailing,” Platten said. “Not to return, but only to sail.”
