Just under 500 seafarers are waiting to be evacuated from 109 vessels in Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. Six weeks ago, there were 2,000 of them,
The International Chamber of Shipping announced it in a press release in which it specifies that 1,500 seafarers have so far been safely evacuated through humanitarian corridors on land and at sea. Many of them have already been repatriated. Some, however, are still waiting to be transferred from coastal locations in the Ukraine.
The International Labour Organization (ILO), IMO, UNHCR and humanitarian organizations have been coordinating deliveries of food, water and medicine to the still stranded crews. Delivering aid continues to be extremely difficult, particularly in high-risk areas.
A total of 25 vessels have been detained in Mykolaiv, 23 in Chornomorsk, 16 in Kherson, 10 in Odessa, 8 in Berdyansk, 6 in Pivdennyi, 5 in Mariupol, 2 ships in both Nika Tera and Ochakiv. One ship each in Izmail and Yuzhny.
The seafarers, both those evacuated and those remaining on board, come from 27 different countries, The majority are from the Philippines and India. Others come from the Ukraine, Russia, China, Denmark , Greece and Turkey.
According to ICS data most of the 109 stranded ships are either bulk carriers (42) or general cargo ships (38). Other ships include oil tankers, chemical tankers, tugs, ro-ro cargo vessels , an icebreaker, and hopper barges.
Translation by Giles Foster
