ICS warns UN Security Council that shipping cannot be held to ransom

September 21 ------ The International Chamber of Shipping has taken the industry’s concerns over maritime security directly to the UN Security Council, warning that commercial vessels and seafarers cannot become collateral damage in escalating geopolitical tensions.

International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Secretary General Thomas A. Kazakos addressed the UN Security Council in New York on 17 September, highlighting the importance of freedom of navigation, the protection of maritime trade and respect for the established international legal framework governing the world’s oceans.

Kazakos was invited to brief an Arria-Formula meeting convened by the Kingdom of Bahrain and chaired by Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani. The meeting brought together UN representatives and invited guests to discuss the deteriorating maritime security environment amid heightened geopolitical tensions, with particular attention on the security situation in the Persian Gulf.

For the shipping industry, the discussion comes against a backdrop in which insecurity at sea is increasingly affecting not only vessels and cargoes, but also the people who operate them.

Freedom of navigation at the center

Addressing the Security Council, Kazakos put freedom of navigation at the heart of the industry’s concerns. "The ability of commercial ships to navigate international waterways safely, predictably and without unnecessary impediment, is crucial to international maritime law and to the global trade system… Shipping must not be held to ransom," said Kazakos.

The Secretary General pointed specifically to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding region, describing the waterway as one of the world’s most critical arteries of international commerce. According to ICS, the strait carries approximately one quarter of global seaborne oil trade, alongside major volumes of LNG and fertilizers. The ongoing disruption, Kazakos said, has been extraordinary.

The message from the shipping industry was that geopolitical tensions should not fundamentally alter the rules governing commercial navigation. “Straits cannot become a place where commercial shipping is required to obtain permission, negotiate passage, or accept arbitrary restrictions, simply because geopolitical tensions have escalated,” Kazakos said. “This is not a privilege to be granted or withdrawn according to the political circumstances of the day.”

Seafarers at the center of the crisis

The ICS address also placed the human cost of maritime insecurity firmly on the agenda. Seafarers, Kazakos stressed, are transporting food, energy, medicines, raw materials and other essential goods to communities around the world. “They are civilians. They are not parties to geopolitical conflicts, and their welfare is of the utmost importance,” he said.

ICS further stressed that commercial vessels and their crews must not become collateral to wider political or military disputes and that the established international rules governing navigation must be respected.

For an industry that operates across borders and through some of the world’s most strategically sensitive waterways, the principle is central: merchant ships need to be able to transit international waters without becoming bargaining instruments in wider geopolitical disputes.

A call to protect the rules of global trade

Kazakos closed his address by calling for a return to freedom of navigation and reaffirming the industry’s position that international straits must not become “toll roads” and that merchant ships and seafarers must not be held to ransom.

He also underlined the industry’s willingness to work with governments and international organizations to strengthen maritime security and protect the principles underpinning global trade. “The International Chamber of Shipping welcomed the opportunity to brief members of the Security Council and reiterated the shipping industry’s commitment to working with governments and international organizations to strengthen maritime security and protect the principles on which global trade depends,” Kazakos concluded.

Kazakos’ warning echoes concerns raised by IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, who has also warned that escalating geopolitical tensions are placing merchant shipping and seafarers under growing threat across major trading regions. Speaking in London during the IMO Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers on 14–18 September, Dominguez said geopolitical tensions were exacting an increasingly deadly toll on commercial shipping.

While the IMO does not have a mandate to address the root causes of geopolitical conflicts, Dominguez stressed that their consequences are increasingly being felt across global shipping and trade, urging Member States to raise the impact on international shipping with their governments and through appropriate international forums.

Disruptions to maritime operations, he warned, ultimately extend beyond shipping itself, affecting economies, supply chains and consumers.

Source: safety4sea.com