InterManager, the international trade association for the shipmanagement sector, is calling on shipping industry colleagues to contribute to a new campaign to highlight the issue of criminalisation of seafarers.
InterManager said in a release it is concerned at the “increasingly harsh” treatment of ships’ crew in some parts of the world and is actively taking part in industry discussions to identify the depth of the problem and to address seafarers’ concerns.
The association now plans to collate statistics on criminalisation incidents which it plans to share with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other shipping industry stakeholders.
InterManager is asking for other shipping organisations, maritime colleagues, and seafarers to inform it of cases of criminalisation that they are aware of, to ensure that the data InterManager collects is as comprehensive as possible.
Secretary-general, Kuba Szymanski, explained: “There is a concern within the shipping industry that seafarers are being unfairly detained when authorities find something wrong with their ship, often when drugs are found onboard but also in other circumstances. Most frequently senior officers are detained, although the whole crew can be, and held without charge for long periods of time and often without any proper legal representation or assistance.”
InterManager has recently begun compiling figures which show senior officers are most at risk of criminalisation. Statistics collected so far reveal that in 63% of cases the ship’s master was the one imprisoned. Tanker crew represent the most frequent vessel type on which arrests occurred with Asia leading the world when it comes to arrests.
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