The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has warned that the Mediterranean “will be a sea of blood” unless there is intervention to prevent shipwrecks and drownings of migrants and refugees attempting the sea crossing into Europe.
Two marine tankers, the Marshall Islands-flagged Front Altair and the Panamanian-flagged Kokuka Courageous, were left abandoned and adrift after what appear to be attacks on the vessels while transiting the Gulf of Oman.
In the Gulf of Guinea, piracy and armed robbery have been long-standing problems, but in recent years the frequency of attacks is increasing in this region. The severity of this issue and the treatment of the crews is worsening, with ruthless and inhumane acts of violence.
Despite the name, the National Union of Seafarers Sri Lanka (NUSS) is not just for seafarers.
Since 2018 the NUSS has been organising informal dockworkers and fishers, contract logistics workers and, most recently, self-employed taxi drivers.
The first ever international standard on violence and harassment in the world of work has been adopted at the centenary International Labour Conference (ILC) of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Participants from ITF affiliated unions from Lebanon, Oman, Iraq and Yemen attended a training and education seminar in Beirut on the 17-18 of June, following the first training session held in Tangiers in February.
There were events to celebrate the International Day of the Seafarer, 25 June, throughout the world.
Eight migrants drown off Turkey
A Portuguese shipping management company has pleaded guilty in Charleston, South Carolina to a pollution cover-up and has agreed to pay a fine of USD1.5 million.
As has been widely reported, Captain Rackete was taken into custody after carrying 40 migrants and refugees that she had rescued off Libya into the Italian Port of Lampedusa, despite attempts by the Italian Coastguard to block the rescue boat from entering the port.
