The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 105), which met 20-29 April 2022, adopted the following resolution on 28 April 2022:
RESOLUTION MSC.495(105) – Actions to facilitate the urgent evacuation of seafarers from the war zone area in and around the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov as a result of the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine.
THE MARITIME SAFETY COMMITTEE,
RECALLING Article 28(b) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Committee,
RECALLING that the purpose of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as set forth in Article 1 of the IMO Convention and the mission in the Strategic Plan of IMO is to promote safe, secure, environmentally sound, efficient and sustainable shipping through cooperation,
NOTING that the Council, at its thirty-fifth extraordinary session, relating to the conflict in Ukraine:
BEING DEEPLY CONCERNED by the impact of the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine on the safety and welfare of seafarers, including their mental health and that of their families,
BEARING IN MIND the impact of the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine on the safety and security of navigation and the integrity of global supply chains, given that nearly all of Ukraine’s grain exports are carried out through seaports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov where the Russian Federation naval blockade and shelling of ships and port infrastructure prevents commercial ships, including some loaded with grain and other agriculture commodities, from leaving the ports, as noted in the recent reports by UNCTAD and the decision of the International Grains Council of 6 April 2022,
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BEING GRAVELY CONCERNED by the number of ships and seafarers currently stranded in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov region and unable to leave the area safety, the collateral damage to many merchant ships and the tragic injuries and deaths of seafarers as a result of the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine,
BEING ALARMED by reports that seafarers in some Ukrainian ports no longer have secure access to fresh food, water and medical supplies as a result of the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine,
BEING FURTHER ALARMED by the reports of illegal seizure and detention of civilian ships, including SAR ships, and their crews, all of which enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law,
NOTING that the Secretary-General and the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), have jointly written to the Heads of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF); and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to request urgent action wherever feasible to assist in the reprovisioning of the ships concerned with the vital supplies needed by their seafarers,
