RightShip and Human Rights at Sea Join Forces
Ship-vetting company RightShip and the charity Human Rights at Sea have signed a long-term partnership agreement to help improve seafarer welfare.
The new partnership sees RightShip support Human Rights at Sea’s global mission to end human rights abuses at sea. Founded in 2014 with the purpose engaging with stakeholders in the improvement of human rights policies, the charity currently works with many partner charities, government departments and non-governmental organizations.
RightShip is the first commercial maritime industry organization to officially engage with the charity. It was founded in 2001 to improve dry bulk safety and quality standards and draw on the significant ship vetting expertise of global commodity companies BHP and Rio Tinto. In 2006, international food, agriculture and risk management company Cargill joined as an equal equity partner.
In 2019, Human Rights at Sea launched the first version of the Geneva Declaration of Human Rights at Sea, which focuses on State-level engagement and eventual ratification within the United Nations. Once finalized, Human Rights at Sea and RightShip will mobilize a concerted international effort to end human rights abuses at sea through reference to, and engagement with, the four fundamental principles of the Declaration.
These principles are:
1. Human rights apply at sea to exactly the same degree and extent that they do on land
2. All persons at sea, without any distinction, enjoy human rights at sea
3. There are no maritime specific rules allowing derogation from human rights standards
4. All human rights established under treaty and customary international law must be respected at sea
The aim of the Geneva Declaration is to raise global awareness of the human rights abuses at sea and to mobilise a concerted international effort to put an end to it.
The charity has also produced a series of educational videos:
Part 1: The State's Duty to Protect is available here
Part 2: Access to Effective Remedy is available here
Further information can be obtained from our Loss Prevention Department.