Almost 500 seafarers remain on board a total of 84 ships stranded at Ukrainian ports. One of them is a tanker from Maersk Tankers. 1,500 seafarers in total have been evacuated thus far, according to the IMO.
The war in Ukraine poses a security threat to the seafarers who remain trapped on board ships at Ukrainian ports.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the majority of these seafarers have now been evacuated, but hundreds are still stuck in the war-torn country.
In total, 84 vessels with almost 500 seafarers on board are located at Ukrainian ports, and according the IMO, this means that around 1,500 have been evacuated so far.
”[Many] of the ships concerned now lack food, fuel, fresh water, and other vital supplies. The situation of the seafarers from many countries is becoming increasingly untenable as a result, presenting grave risks to their health and well-being,” the IMO wrote in an update Wednesday.
Maersk vessel in Mykolaiv
One of the ships stuck at the ports is Danish-flagged Harald Maersk belonging to Maersk Product Tankers. The vessel lies at the Port of Mykolaiv, where it’s been since before the war broke out.
The seafarers on board Harald Maersk are employed through Synergy, and Maersk Tankers says the majority of those on board have been evacuated.
”Synergy is doing all it can to ensure the safety of the seafarers still on board,” Maersk Tankers most recently told WPO.
Many of the ships concerned now lack food, fuel, fresh water, and other vital supplies
IMO
In Odesa, home to Ukraine’s largest container port, Chinese container line Cosco has a chartered vessel docked. The ship in question is Joseph Schulte with a capacity of nearly 10,000 teu.
In March, the vessel still had part of the crew on board, a spokesperson told WPO at the time. WPO has attempted to get an fresh update on the crew’s situation.
Support wanted
When the war in Ukraine broke out, around 2,000 seafarers were stranded on board a total of 94 ships at Ukrainian ports, the IMO informs. But because an increasing number are trapped in war zones, particularly at the Port of Mariupol, which is under heavy fire at the moment, the IMO has collaborated with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to call for speedy support efforts.
In a letter addressed to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF), the two organizations call for seafarers in Ukraine to receive fresh supplies for their stranded vessels.
As previously reported by WPO, the German Shipowners’ Association (Verband Deutsche Reeder, VDR) has recommended that humanitarian corridors be established at sea, so that seafarers may return home safely.
