In the war zone: shipowners' association demand safe conduct for ships in the Ukraine

Enlarge image

The port of Odessa on the Black Sea (icon image from 2016)

Photo: Valentyn Ogirenko / REUTERS

Five weeks after Russia's attack on Ukraine, the German Shipowners' Association (VDR) estimates that at least 60 ships from the international merchant fleet are still stuck in ports on the Ukrainian coast.

Among them are several ships from German shipping companies, said the VDR in Hamburg.

Because supplying the crews with food is becoming increasingly difficult, the VDR demanded "that these ships be allowed to leave the ports as quickly as possible without the risk of an attack," as the association's president Gaby Bornheim said.

"The ships must be given safe conduct so that they and their crews can sail out of the war zone unscathed."

Above all, the association called on Russia to enable the "blue" sea corridors proposed by the World Maritime Organization (IMO).

"It is an intolerable situation that - in addition to the Ukrainian population - more than 1,000 seamen on board merchant ships in the war region have to fear for their lives," said Bornheim.

The Azov and Black Seas, with their port cities, are important transport routes for Ukrainian economic goods.

Therefore, Odessa and Mariupol, which has been under siege for weeks, are of strategic importance in the Russian war of aggression.

The Hamburg-based group HHLA operates the largest container terminal in Ukraine in Odessa.

Merchant ships are threatened by mines and shelling

According to the VDR, if merchant ships anchored in Ukrainian ports leave the port, "there are currently significant dangers, such as mines and possible fire from warships lying off the Ukrainian coast".

"Ships and their crews must not become pawns in this war of aggression," said Bornheim.

Almost three weeks ago, the World Maritime Organization (IMO) called for so-called blue corridors so that merchant ships and their crews can leave the war zone.

IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim has committed to taking action to implement the corridor in cooperation with the parties concerned, it said.

The IMO, based in London, is a special organization of the United Nations.

40 of the 174 IMO member countries are represented on the IMO Council, including Russia and China as well as Germany and other major shipping nations.

hba/dpa