IMO Council Urges Stronger Protection Of Seafarers Amid Threats To Global Shipping

The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the safety, security, health and well-being of seafarers amid continuing threats to international shipping.

Meeting for its 138th session at IMO Headquarters in London (2–6 November 2026), the Council reiterated that vital shipping lanes should remain open, safe and secure. It underscored that seafarers must be protected wherever they are and whatever their nationality, including in geopolitical disputes over which they have no control.

Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez emphasized: “Seafarers continue to lose their lives, suffer serious injuries, face abandonment, are denied repatriation and are deprived of basic human necessities, including water, food and medical care, resulting from the ongoing geopolitical conflicts.”

He highlighted the death of another seafarer this week, following an attack on the M/T VELOS SAPPHIRE in the Strait of Hormuz on 5 November, bringing the number of confirmed casualties to 25 since the conflict in the Middle East began. In total, at least 130 attacks against commercial vessels in the region have been verified by IMO, with thousands of seafarers at risk, including those on ships that have been unable to leave the Persian Gulf.

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