India and Liberia have jointly launched the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers. This is a new international coalition to safeguard commercial shipping and the around two million merchant seafarers working around the world.
The group was formally launched last Friday at the United Nations headquarters in New York and will be co-chaired by India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Liberia’s Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti.
The change comes as merchant ships and crews face a more complex security environment, with physical attacks, wider geopolitical disruptions and threats to shipping in strategically important waterways.
Some 25 to 27 countries, including major ship-owning and coastal states such as France, Germany, Japan and Russia, attended and supported the coalition’s first ministerial meeting.
At the meeting, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar pointed out the complementarity of the two founding nations.
Jaishankar said “India as a major source of seafarers and Liberia as the largest shipping registry have come together to highlight the safety and security of shipping and seafarers.
He also referenced the repeated attacks on commercial maritime activity in recent months.
“Commercial shipping and marinas have been attacked repeatedly in the Gulf, the Red Sea and its periphery in recent months….“These actions that disrupt maritime commerce and cost innocent lives are simply indefensible,” he said.
The new group will serve as a platform for exchanging information and practical cooperation between the participating countries in an action-oriented manner.
The coalition will work with existing international organizations like the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) and not replace the existing institutional architecture, Jaishankar said.
Its work will focus on countering the increasing threats and attacks against merchant mariners and commercial vessels, particularly in vital maritime areas like the Red Sea, the Gulf and the Black Sea.
The Group of Friends will be a voluntary mechanism to provide further cooperation and support and to complement the work already carried out by organizations such as the IMO and ILO.
