Human Rights at Sea Organization Now Tracking All Missing Persons at Sea
Admiralty law, and it’s practitioners like Jones Act lawyers and maritime attorneys have been influential in protecting the rights of seafarers and maritime laborers. Recently, fishermen have been added to the records that document missing persons at sea. The program, The Missing Seafarers and Fishers Reporting Programme, was initiated by the Human Rights at Sea in January 2014. They have changed their policies and now include people missing from fishing boats. The program expanded globally and amended their vision to become the focal international database for recording missing seafarers and fishers. The main aim or objective is to use the Missing Seafarer and Fisher Register to build an accurate database detailing status of seafarers and fishers missing on a global basis.
The register was opened up to include fishers lost at sea due to the growing number of cases being submitted to the international database. CEO, David Hammond, shared that the charity had decided it would be best to include the lost fishers, as well, and to change the program and protocol accordingly. This program is unprecedented in its focus and function. Completely self-funded, the Missing Seafarer and Fisher Register relies heavily on the donors and sponsors that support it.
For More Than One Purpose: Bridging the Gap for Families
One of the functions of the register and the program is to help support the families coping with the allegations of suicide or a wrongful death at sea. Through the program they can issue impact statements. For any willing family, they are given the voice and the platform to present the issues surrounding their missing loved one. Human Rights at Sea are instrumental in this process, which is seen and received as a very important function to those that have missing family members. In those cases where missing seafarers are said to have committed suicide, this is a way that family members can speak on behalf of the missing and keep hope and the search alive.
How You Can Find the Register
The website is https://www.missingseafarers.org/, it offers a secure mobile online platform. With the Missing Seafarer and Fisher Register seafarers, fishers, and their families are able to register, track, investigate, and gain advocacy on behalf of the missing loved ones. The register currently has over 150 missing seafarers and fishers listed. It is supported by Seafarers UK, Mishcon de Reya, Fishermans Mission, Sailors Society, Apostleship of the Sea, Mission to Seafarers, ICC-IMB, MPHRP, ISWAN, SeaWives, IBA and Seafarerhelp.
