United Nations, 13 (IANS) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns the attacks of civilian shipping, the most recent of which were in the Black Sea on Tuesday, his Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“It’s very worrisome because these attacks on ships carrying grain, food, and other products destined for the global market have multiplied and have expanded recently”, he told reporters at his briefing.
“Also, it has a terrible knock-on effect on the price of commodities worldwide”, he said.
According to Bulgarian officials, two cargo ships were attacked by drones off its coast and one of them sank.
Eleven sailors were missing, they said, but did not give their nationalities.
Dujarric said, “We all owe a debt of gratitude for all of these seafarers who continue to operate in extremely dangerous circumstances, just so that all the goods that we rely on for our daily lives keep moving”.
He noted the toll on seafarers also in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, which are fallouts of the Iran conflict.
Last week alone, at least 35 Indian crew members faced attacks on their ships, and India and Liberia, which co-chair a group for maritime safety, condemned the attacks on commercial shipping and seafarers in the Gulf region and the Black Sea.
India, which has the largest number of seafarers, and Liberia, where the highest number of ships are registered, head the Group of Friends on Safety & Security of Shipping & Seafarers (GoFoS4).
Their statement said they “strongly condemn the string of unacceptable attacks that commercial ships and seafarers have been subjected to in the Gulf and its vicinity, [and] the Black Sea, over the past few days”.
According to Bulgarian officials, the 11 missing seafarers were from the Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship HS Dignity that sank off its coast on Tuesday, and five were rescued.
The Maltese-flagged Chelsea 3 was also hit by drones and 15 members of its crew from Ukraine and Ukraine were rescued, they said.
Last week, an Indian seafarer was injured when the cargo ship MV Royad Mammadov flying under the flag of St Kitts and Nevis was hit near the Romanian coast in the Black Sea.
Bulgaria did not directly blame Russia for the attacks near its coast, but Prime Minister Rumen Radev called Russia’s envoy for a meeting at which he said “the results of these strikes favour Russia’s interests”, according to Bulgaria’s press office.
–IANS
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