Seafarers' union calls for halt to Red Sea transits to protect ships' crews

"No commercial interests should ever take precedence over the safety and lives of our seafarers," Nautilus International said in a message directed at shipowners.

Acknowledging the commercial pressures that shipowners are under and the strategic advantage of the global shipping route, the union said the time has come to stop transiting through the Red Sea.

"We believe it is time for those shipowners who are continuing to transit through the Red Sea to reassess the necessity of their decision considering recent events including the sinking of Rubymar and the tragic incident on board True Confidence," the union said.

A Houthi attack on the Barbados-flagged, 50,000-dwt True Confidence bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on 6 March took the lives of three mariners and left at least four others injured, three severely. 

The fatal attack came after dozens of vessels have been targets of missile and drone attacks since late November 2023 by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel militia that controls much of war-torn Yemen. The Houthis say they will continue their attacks until there is a ceasefire in Israel’s bombardment of Palestinian territories. The militia group has also claimed it is targeting vessels with links to the US, UK and Israel, but many vessels that have come under attack have had little to no discernable connection to the Houthi’s supposed targets.

"Recent events have demonstrated that the risk from these indiscriminate attacks is no longer isolated to vessels with meaningful links to Israel, the UK or the US. Any vessel could potentially come under attack and shipowners should not be complacent when seafarers’ lives are at risk," Nautilus International said.

"We, therefore, call on shipowners to urgently reassess the necessity of any planned transits considering the worsening situation until such time as there is a significant improvement in the security situation. We believe the utmost priority should be the safeguarding of the lives of seafarers, who are the backbone of global trade."

Nautilus represents some 20,000 maritime professionals. 

In a statement covering seafarers’ rights and shipowners’ responsibilities in relation to the ongoing violence in the region, Reed Smith employment lawyer David Ashmore called the safety considerations "profound".

"From an employment standpoint, the conflict is likely to escalate employment costs significantly, particularly since the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) officially deemed the southern section of the Red Sea and the strait a High-Risk Area as of 22 December 2023. More recently, the IBF expanded this designation to encompass the Gulf of Aden and surrounding waters. This designation triggers heightened costs for shipowners, as per IBF agreements, seafarers are entitled to double their basic pay, along with double compensation for death or disability, and a mandatory increase in security arrangements,” he said.

"Beyond the financial considerations, shipowners bear the responsibility to repatriate seafarers, irrespective of their employment status, in accordance with the Maritime Labour Convention Minimum Requirement Regulations. Additionally, shipowners are obligated to repatriate employees when a seafarer is no longer capable of fulfilling their duties under the SEA or when it becomes unreasonable to expect them to do so – especially in circumstances such as the vessel heading towards a war zone without the seafarer’s consent."

Mr Ashmore said the deaths of seafarers and the ongoing safety concerns for those on vessels transiting the Red Sea region would make the already difficult task of recruiting seafarers more difficult, intensifying a global labour shortage in the sector.