ISWAN Joins the HRAS Network

Human Rights at Sea is delighted to welcome the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) to the HRAS organisation and expanding network, making ISWAN the 43rd Supporting Entity to assist in the global development of the HRAS initiative.

The International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network is an organisation that promotes seafarers welfare worldwide and directly serves seafarers by providing a 24 hour helpline. ISWAN is the result of a merger between the International Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare (ICSW) and the International Seafarers Assistance Network (ISAN). ISWAN is a membership organisation with the International Shipping Federation, The International Transport Workers Federation and the International Christian Maritime Association as the core members.

HRAS Founder, David Hammond, said “The weight that ISWAN adds to the HRAS initiative and its developing maritime human rights work on behalf of those who are engaged in the maritime industry and who work in the maritime environment not always under the protections afforded through the likes of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, cannot be underestimated. The generous support that ISWAN will provide continues to strengthen the international network of welfare organisations whose focus remains on the seafarer, who often works under very difficult conditions at sea.”

The HRAS aim is “to explicitly raise awareness, implementation and accountability for human rights protections throughout the maritime industry, especially where they are currently absent and being abused”.