Dr. Anna Petrig, HRAS Advisor and leading maritime academic is interviewed by ShipSan – the European maritime platform for ship medical safety
“Human Rights at Sea” (HRAS) is an independent Maritime Human Rights Resource for the International Community. So it is posted on its website www.humanrightsatsea.org. Dr. iur. Anna Petrig, who holds an LL.M. from Harvard, is a member of the HRAS Board of Advisors. She is currently a postdoc researcher at the University of Basel, Switzerland. In a telephone interview, Dr. Petrig told us that she is heavily involved with this issue of human rights at sea since 2008. It was at this time that the Security Council of the United Nations drafted its first resolutions concerning the issue of countering piracy. In this context she started reflecting about human rights in counter-piracy operations specifically and in the maritime environment more generally. Dr. Petrig points out that the initiative “Human Rights at Sea” is the only initiative that solely deals with human rights in the maritime context and thus fills an important gap. One of its current main activities is the “Missing Seafarers & Fishers Reporting Programme”, which can be found at www.missingseafarers. org. Its aim is to support missing seamen, fishermen and their families by registering them on a stable internet forum. By setting up this platform, the initiative lobbies for these forgotten persons and aims at contributing to ascertain their fate and whereabouts, so Dr. Petrig. In the own words of the initiative, “The Register, as it evolves, will become an international multilingual online platform for registering, tracking, updating, profiling and raising awareness of missing seafarers and fishermen on a global basis. It will be aimed at being used by multiple stakeholders, including, but not limited to, family members, colleagues, employers, NGOs, flag States, insurers, Governments, the EU and the UN for their awareness and where applicable, their engagement, intervention and investigation of alleged abuses.” It is a work-in-progress. Dr. Petrig points out that the issue of human rights at sea evolved in the last years. The idea that human rights apply at sea as they do on land gained in acceptance.
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About EU SHIPSAN ACT Joint Action
The SHIPSAN ACT is a European Joint Action funded by the European Commission under the Health Programme (2008-2013) where 32 partners from 24 European countries participate.
The duration of the EU SHIPSAN ACT Joint Action is 39 months (February 2013-April 2016).
The EU SHIPSAN ACT Joint Action deals with the impact on maritime transport of health threats due to biological, chemical and radiological agents, including communicable diseases and supports the implementation of International Health Regulations 2005.
