Press Release
20 October 2020
The Escalating Crisis of Migration at Sea – what can we learn from the case of the Maersk Etienne?
London. UK. As part of the Shoreline insurance podcast series, Human Rights at Sea along with Control Risks participated in the most recent episode covering the policy and legal issues raised by the recent Maersk Etienne case in the central Mediterranean during August 2020.
Episode Description
“According to the UN Refugee Agency, some 40,000 people have attempted to cross from North Africa to Europe in 2020 alone, the size of this humanitarian crisis is further compounded when we learn that 400 of these migrants are reported to have lost their lives when making this dangerous journey.”
“The legal complexities of migrant rescue involves the application of international conventions and multi-jurisdictional and agency issues, all of which does nothing to alleviate the ship master’s moral and legal obligation to respond to the plight of migrants when in distress at sea. It’s in the DNA of those who work at sea, to save life at sea and in so doing, they often expose themselves, their vessels and their employers to safety, legal, security and commercial issues that can take time and money to resolve.In this podcast we will look at the legal and operational complexities of seaborne migrant rescue and we will point our listeners in the right direction to access freely available information, advice and support when caught in the crosshairs of the perhaps inevitable political standoff which may ensue when seeking a safe place to disembark those that you have saved at sea.”
“Today, Shoreline has the pleasure of speaking to two leading industry experts on this issue, namely; David Hammond – David is the CEO and founder of the Human Rights at Sea Organisation, HRAS is a not for profit, advocacy charity, that strives to deliver social change through legal and policy development to ensure human rights apply equally to those at sea as they do to those on land, and; Dr. Victoria Mitchell – Victoria is part of Control Risks’ dedicated maritime security team, providing global analytical coverage of maritime security issues. Victoria is an expert in the law of the sea and holds a PhD that addresses this and maritime security cooperation.”
Captain Thomas Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Shoreline, commented: “Shoreline as providers of Maritime Crisis Response Insurance were grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with industry experts at HRAS and Control Risks to discuss the issue of seaborne migration during the production of this helpful and informative maritime risk podcast.”
Dr. Victoria Mitchell, Associate Analyst, Maritime, Control Risks commented: “Seaborne migration is an issue in many places worldwide. An awareness of the issue and obligations regarding duty to rescue are critical for operators and vessel crew.”
David Hammond Esq. commented: “Our thanks to Shoreline for proactively engaging with the charity alongside Control Risks in providing access to disseminating legal and policy perspectives in relation to the ongoing Mediterranean migrant issue, and the search and rescue challenges faced by the Maersk Etienne earlier this year.”
Podcast platforms:
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/…
Stitcher – https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-maritime-risk-podcast
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/episode/7DmFLZrkxvmRoigMxJNFzL
About: Shoreline (Bermuda) here. Shoreline Press Link here.
Lloyds List Commentary on Maersk Etienne case: Maersk Etienne migrant conclusion must not be the end of the story.
ENDS.