Migrant rescues prompt SOLAS review

Review is a priority matter, says IMO.

Migrant rescues prompt SOLAS review

Girija Shettar

The International Maritime Organization is to review legislation underpinning sea rescues by commercial shipping as a “matter of priority” in the light of mass rescues of migrants and refugees being conducted in the Mediterranean Sea.

At the 102nd meeting of the Legal Committee this week, a report on the UN inter-agency meeting held at the IMO in March was submitted. It found that new safety issues are raised by large-scale rescues. The report said: “Search and rescue systems maintained by the shipping community [are] not designed for rescuing hundreds of thousands of people drifting on small, unseaworthy boats left in shipping lanes.”

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Source: ihsmaritime360.com