Top officials from across the shipping industry have expressed their feelings about the first loss of lives from the five-month old Red Sea shipping crisis.
The Houthis fired a missile yesterday at the
True Confidence, a 13-year-old, 50,448 dwt bulk carrier, which struck near the stern of the vessel. Three crew – a Vietnamese and two Filipinos – died, and two more were severely injured and are in hospital.
The Indian navy assisted in rescuing the crew who had abandoned the ship, as well in dousing the blaze on the Barbados-flagged ship, which had recently been sold by Oaktree to Greek interests. Its links to American interests – as highlighted by the Houthis yesterday – came to an end last month.
How can murdering these innocent seafarers possibly be justified?
True Confidence was on passage from China to Jeddah and Aqaba with a cargo of steel products and trucks.
The vessel is owned by True Confidence Shipping and operated by Third January Maritime of Piraeus. The vessel is drifting well away from land and salvage arrangements are being made. Sources linked to the ship told Splash today that the ship’s superstructure is very badly damaged, but the vessel is towable and the Indian navy is coordinating with a salvage team to protect a tug coming in to move the stricken ship.
International Maritime Organization secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said it was “deeply saddening” to follow the “horrific” reports of the casualties on the True Confidence.
“Innocent seafarers should never become collateral victims,” Dominguez said, while calling for collective action to fortify the safety of those who serve at sea.
“International trade depends on international shipping and international shipping cannot go on without seafarers,” Dominguez stressed.
Stephen Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a seafarers union, called for urgent action to protect its members.
“We have consistently warned the international community and the maritime industry about the escalating risks faced by seafarers in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. Today … we see those warnings tragically confirmed,” Cotton said yesterday.
Commenting on social media, Budd Darr, executive vice president at Mediterrnean Shipping Co (MSC), responsible for maritime policy and government affairs at the world’s largest containerline, hit out at the Houthis.
“It is hard to see in any context how murdering these innocent seafarers in the Gulf of Aden could possibly be justified,” Darr wrote.
In a joint statement issued today, leading shipping organisations including INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO, BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping urged: “The frequency of attacks on merchant shipping highlights the urgent need for all stakeholders to take decisive action to safeguard the lives of innocent civilian seafarers and put an end to such threats.”
In a social media post, InterManager, the global association for shipmanagers, stated that the “shocking situation” must be addressed by all governments.
“We will call on governments around the world to join us in bringing to a halt these appalling attacks,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said yesterday.
More than 60 merchant ships have been targeted by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the five months since Israel went to war with Hamas leading to a massive rerouting of much of the ship traffic between Asia and Europe to take much longer voyages around the continent of Africa.
Over the weekend, the Rubymar bulk carrier became the first constructive total loss of the Red Sea shipping crisis, spewing bunker fuel and risking emitting its cargo of 21,000 tons of fertiliser into the Red Sea.
The anchor of the Rubymar has been cited as the most likely cause of damage to three telecommunications cables in the Red Sea in late February, according to the International Cable Protection Committee, the group representing subsea cable operators.
The Rubymar was hit by ballistic missiles in mid-February off the west coast of Yemen.
