International shipping must change course and respect human rights: UN expert

NEW YORK (19 October 2023) – The international shipping industry is key to a functioning global economy, but the sector has been riddled with serious human rights and environmental concerns, a UN expert said today.

Around 90 percent of traded goods worldwide are transported by ocean shipping.

Presenting his latest report to the UN General Assembly, Marcos Orellana, the UN Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, called for a human rights-based approach to shipping by States and businesses.

“Oil spills harm coastal communities and Indigenous Peoples; air pollution from vessels impair air quality in port cities; emissions of greenhouse gases from vessels contribute to climate change; shipbreaking (and especially beaching of end-of-life vessels) releases persistent hazardous pollutants to the environment; seafarers are subjected to hazardous working conditions; and the transport of hazardous cargo poses risks to the crew and environment,” Orellana said.

The expert said illegal dumping of hazardous substances and wastes remains a significant source of marine pollution. For instance, bilge dumping – the disposal of a mix of liquids from ship engines and other potentially toxic substances into the ocean – receives less attention than catastrophic oil spills but could amount to 200,000 cubic metres annually. Crew members are often threatened with dismissal or being “blacklisted” if they report such activities, the expert said.

The Special Rapporteur described some of the elements of a human rights-based approach to shipping, including the protection for whistle-blowers, transparency and access to information and accountability of State and business for their actions.

This report deepens and follows Orellana’s report on his visit to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which commended the impressive achievements of the IMO as a standard-setting authority, while noting the urgent need to interpret and implement IMO conventions in light of the human rights obligations of States.

“States, including flag, coastal and port states, need to apply the obligations laid out in the law of the sea, IMO conventions and the guiding principles on business and human rights and make businesses accountable for their actions,” he said. Several “flags of convenience” do not have the capacity to regulate the number of ships registered under them. Without adequate enforcement, the impact of international conventions is vastly reduced, he warned. Orellana called on businesses in the shipping industry to implement their human rights responsibilities. “Shipping companies and businesses related to shipping should, at a minimum, explicitly recognise their responsibility to respect human rights; establish human rights due diligence processes and put in place efficient processes for preventing, addressing and remedying adverse human rights impacts they cause or to which they contribute,” the expert said.