HRAS Receives Funding for Missing Seafarers Project

Seafarers UK has announced initial funding to support the development of an international register of seafarers, including fishermen missing at sea. The project is being led by Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), an independent not-for-profit resource for the international maritime community, and founder David Hammond aims to have the on-line register up and running early in the new year.

Hammond is a leading advocate for the on-going and explicit international development and codification of human rights at sea and is author of the now established 100 Series Rules – an international set of lawful rules for the use of force at sea which was created to protect life and avoid unlawful actions by private maritime security companies at sea. 

“Despite Human Rights at Sea being a very young organization, I was humbled by the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the proposal and the financial support provided by donors in response to our request for modest start-up funding for this unique global program.”

To date, there are no statistics kept on the number of people missing from the ranks of the 1.5 million registered seafarers worldwide, or of any of the assessed large numbers of unregistered, trafficked or abused individuals caught up in illegal and unregulated maritime activities, including fishing. 

The new on-line database aims to fill that gap in the form of an indexed register, state by state. Rather than just being a tool for analysis, it will be made available to families, flag and port authorities, shipowners and managers and will aim to independently support legal investigations into specific cases of abuse, injury and even death at sea. 

Announcing his support, Seafarers UK’s director of grants Dennis Treleaven said: “I am delighted that we have been able to support this request to establish an international database of seafarers who have gone missing whilst at sea. The need for this is long overdue, and it is great that we are able to work in partnership with HRAS to build an essential comprehensive resource.

“The global scale of the issue is unknown and the new database will seek to quantify the issue, by providing evidence of missing seafarers to inform international maritime bodies, governments and the UN. The grant from Seafarers UK will also enable HRAS to support the families of missing seafarers and further raise awareness of the broader subject of seafarers’ welfare and the issues some face, such as the withholding of wages, confiscation of identification documents, inhumane working conditions and other human rights and labor abuses.”

Hammond already has a number of cases to add to the database, with more being suggested for inclusion by national and international entities. “The funding lead was taken by Seafarers UK, and consequently, HRAS is now in a firm position to make this project a reality on behalf of the international seafaring community. We hope that this vanguard initiative will subsequently prove to be an attractive, cost-effective and strategically important human rights based platform worthy of on-going international engagement and support.”

The register’s platform structure has already been developed in detail. The database is being built by a UK-based provider, CData Services whose directors Mike and Clive Robinson said, “C Data Services are very proud to be working alongside Human Rights at Sea in the development and design of the missing seafarers register, raising awareness of such a worthy cause. With both our directors having served at sea, the plight of missing seafarers and their families is a subject close to our hearts. Therefore we are delighted to support this important campaign. We will be utilising our skills in bespoke web application development and IT support services, whilst hosting and backing up the platform at our own secure data center.”

The International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) has offered to make its 24-hour reporting center and associated backroom support available for the project. Hammond also has the support of major welfare organizations including Apostleship of the Seas, the Mission to Seafarers, IMB, the UK Fishermen’s Mission and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Reporting Programme among others.

HRAS has 46 supporting partners and is represented in 13 states through local legal firms and correspondents. HRAS is also now listed by the IMO as a recognized resource for seafarers. The organization has contractual legal support through Holman Fenwick Willan in London, and an alliance with Globus Intelligence enables HRAS to investigate human rights abuses. 

“We have the ability to put together evidence for civil and criminal trials in most jurisdictions,” says Hammond. “We are currently looking into two separate alleged murders of seafarers where jurisdictions have effectively washed their hands of the matter, so families have had nowhere else to turn.”

Globus is able to assist with preparing evidence so that investigations can be invigorated. “While that might not seem very much by way of assistance, it may actually be what is really required, especially if that jurisdiction doesn’t have the same investigative skills and resources that we have,” says Hammond.