By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said at a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly high level week in New York that India and Liberia have brought together a group of nations to address the attacks on commercial ships and protect their crews.
He also spotlighted that two days ago, an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier, MV Cape Dove, was attacked in the Gulf of Oman, killed an Indian sailor.
Media reported that 10 days before the incident, a Panama-flagged oil tanker, El Gaya, was struck in the Strait of Hormuz, while an Indian crew member went missing.
Jaishankar said “These, regrettably, are no longer exceptional occurrences as he addressed the gathering during the inaugural meeting of ‘Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers’.
Jaishankar also cited two attacks in the Black Sea and the chief officer of the MV Omorfi, an Indian national was killed when the vessel was hit in Russian territorial waters on July 18.
He added the next day, 4 Indian seafarers died after the MV Golden Leo was struck after its departure from Odessa.
Jaishankar noted that the victims were not only Indian, added that sailors from other countries had also been casualties of attacks this year.
“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,” he said.
He urged nations to work together to deter such attacks, Jaishankar noted that commercial shipping and mariners had faced repeated attacks in the Gulf, the Red Sea and nearby waters in recent months, media reported.
The stakes extend beyond any one shipping route, he noted.
Mr. Jaishankar said that international trade exceeds $140 billion a day, and oceans support over 80% of it.
Ttwo million seafarers serve aboard the world’s merchant fleets.
EAM stressed that, crew also faces other hardships, such as prolonged confinement aboard ships, delays in changing crews or returning home, separation from families and psychological distress. Jaishankar noted that existing international and regional protections required stronger cooperation.
He stated that a vessel’s flag and its crew members’ nationalities are often different, making a response by governments acting together especially important.
India is a major source of seafarers, while Liberia has the world’s largest shipping registry, he emphasized.
The report stated that India and Liberia have proposed the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers as a forum for countries involved in shipping, registration and crewing.
Minister Jaishankar stated that members included major ship-owning nations, countries with large ship registries and those supplying many of the world’s seafarers.
