At an ongoing two-day emergency meeting at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the world’s leading shipping associations have called for safe corridors to be created for the many ships still trapped in Ukrainian waters, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Splash publication.
"Multiple ships have been hit by munitions, seafarers have been killed and injured, and seafarers of all nationalities are trapped on ships berthed in ports. It is of the utmost urgency that their evacuation from these areas of threat should be ensured by those states with the power to do so," the publication quoted Guy Platten, the secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), as saying.
"I would like to emphasize again that shipping, particularly seafarers, cannot be collateral victims in a larger political and military crisis,” the publication quoted IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim as saying in his opening remarks to the emergency meeting.
"Many service companies are pulling out of Russia. Crucially for the local maritime community class societies are starting to stop doing business with the world’s largest country. Both Lloyd’s Register (LR) and DNV yesterday withdrew services to Russia to varying extents. LR has confirmed that it will disengage from the provision of all services to Russian owned, controlled, or managed assets or companies while DNV said it will not enter into new business with Russian companies nor new business activities in Russia, adding in a statement: ‘We are reviewing all ongoing contracts and operations with Russian entities," the publication wrote.
Meanwhile, according to the publication, politicians and global commodity providers continue to seek alternative supplies of all manner of goods in the wake of the invasion.
"The conflict in Ukraine is starting to look like it may drag on for an extended period of time. Ukrainian commodity export volumes over the coming months are seriously in doubt whether the conflict immediately ends or not, and Western appetite for Russian commodities is grinding to a halt,’ a research report from broker Arrow stated yesterday," the publication wrote.
