Of trapped ships and brave seafarers in the Ukraine war zone
SO WE come to a grim anniversary this week. The war in Ukraine started a year ago. When Russian forces invaded the country, they advanced along the coast of the Sea of Azov, capturing the major port of Mariupol, and in the Black Sea took Kherson, but not Odessa.
A statement from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) noted that 12 months ago, 112 vessels crewed by more than 2,000 seafarers were berthed in Ukrainian ports across the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Since the start of the war, ICS notes, the international shipping community has continually called for the safe and immediate evacuation of the trapped seafarers.
Meanwhile, as the global industry body has said: “Shipping companies, charities and unions have worked in coordination with international organisations to facilitate the evacuation effort, supported the trapped seafarers’ families, and provided the seafarers with provisions such as food, clean water and medical supplies.”
In the first few weeks of the invasion, ports such as Mariupol were still being defended, and shipping in the Black Sea was under attack. It was a chaotic dangerous situation for the crews of all those ships.
But in recent months, the war has turned into something of a stalemate and, crucially, there has been an agreement to allow ships to come in and out of the two seas to export grain and other cargo, particularly those vital to developing countries.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
As ICS said: “Shipping has been integral to carrying out the Black Sea Grain Initiative, with heroic crews sailing along to borders of the conflict zone to ensure the world continues to receive vital grain deliveries.”
So it is a bit surprising that ICS has now reported: “Today, 331 seafarers remain aboard 62 vessels in nine ports that include Odessa and Mariupol.”
While numbers may vary, this suggests that ships may typically have skeleton crews of about five seafarers on board. When asked, ICS said that most of the trapped ships are in Ukrainian-held ports – 40 in Kherson and Mykolaiv, and five in Odessa.
Kherson was retaken by Ukrainian forces only in November; Mykolaiv was under prolonged fierce attack as Russian forces attempted to push through to Odessa. So it is perhaps unsurprising that most vessels are stuck in these ports. One ship is in Russian-controlled Mariupol. The trapped ships are mainly tankers or other vessels unsuitable for carrying bulk cargo, and so are not covered by the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
ICS and 31 other maritime organisations have just sent a joint open letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, urging for immediate action to be taken to help “evacuate the seafarers and their ships still trapped in the war zone”.
The list of signatories to the letter is a long one, but does not include the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), which struck me as odd. I did try phoning and emailing ITF about this but have not had a response yet.
The letter reads: “As we approach one year since the start of the war in Ukraine, the co-signatories of this letter write to you to highlight the 331 seafarers still trapped on vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. We call on the United Nations, and on your diplomatic influence, to address this matter urgently and evacuate all remaining seafarers and ships.”
From the wording, it looks like the objective is not simply to extract the seafarers, but to also allow their ships free passage out of the area. That does beg the question: Why not pull out the seafarers out and leave the ships? Could not local ship keepers be engaged to ensure a basic level of monitoring of the ships? And are the seafarers really “trapped”?
I put these questions to ICS. The answer was, broadly, that some crew had to stay on the ships to prevent them deteriorating to the extent that they posed an environmental risk. So what the shipowners are doing is ensuring that the ships are still in an operational condition when they can eventually be sailed to safety. ICS also said that local ship keepers were unavailable as everybody was busy fighting a war.
Some of the seafarers have been on their ships for the year since the war began, but others have been rotated. I put it to the ICS spokesperson that most of the seafarers were not trapped as much as electing to do a dangerous but arguably necessary job.
He responded that the important thing was that the seafarers were in danger and a concerted international effort was needed to get the ships and their crews out of the war zone.
ICS asserts: “Our seafarers are the heart of our industry, and cannot be forgotten. For 12 months now, they have been caught up in a crisis far beyond their control. Simply doing their jobs cannot come at the expense of their lives.”
This has got to be true, and it is also true that some seafarers have been killed on their ships, I believe, mainly in the early days on the war.
In their letter, the shipping organisations tell Guterres: “We recognise and celebrate the United Nations, and your leadership, for the Black Sea Grain Initiative that the UN successfully brokered with Turkiye between Ukraine and Russia. This has allowed safe passage of critical grain and fertiliser shipments from Ukraine to populations most in need, and stopped food prices from spiralling out of control.
“We are committed to supporting the continued success of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. However, this cannot come at the expense of innocent seafarers’ lives. Action must be taken now.”
The letter concludes: “Without our seafarers, movement of the vital grain shipments out of Ukrainian ports would not have been possible. While there are challenges to evacuating seafarers and their ships, it must nonetheless be a top priority. Otherwise, we risk the lives of our seafarers, and this is unacceptable.”
If the UN can negotiate a safe passage for these vessels out of the Black Sea, then all is well and good. But if not, surely serious consideration should be given to closing everything down on the ships, and leaving them laid up in as safe a condition as possible, without their crews on board.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
