Dr Felicity G. Attard, a lecturer within the Department of International Law at the University of Malta, was invited by members of the EU Parliament to address a meeting entitled ‘Commercial Shipping and Search & Rescue in the Mediterranean’ which took place on 1 June 2021.
In her address, Dr Attard reviewed the main international obligations that commercial shipping has in the rendering of assistance in migrant rescue operations. She made proposals on response strategies to challenges which commercial shipowners are facing.
In particular, she explored the possibility of a new initiative at an EU level which would require an obligation to disembark migrants in the State which offers the closest safe port to the location of the rescue. This mechanism could be supported by financial initiatives to the commercial shipping industry as well as commitments of solidarity for relocation sharing amongst EU Member States. Such an approach would assist and support shipowners and shipmasters in securing prompt disembarkation thereby avoiding unnecessary delays.
Her intervention which was well-received, was followed by a panel of speakers which included Monique Pariat, Director-General Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission, Sophie in ‘t Veld, MEP (Renew Europe Member and coordinator in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Jan-Christoph Oetjen, MEP (Renew Member LIBE Committee and Vice-Chair of the Committee on Transport), Annet Koster, Chair of the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR), Tommy Thomassen, CTO and Vice-President of Maersk Tankers and Martin Dorsman, Secretary General of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations.
