“A Challenging Review of Maritime Industry support for Business and Human Rights”, 4 March 2020

“Over the last seven years there has been little concerted and collaborative effort by the shipping industry to embed the concept, develop unified policies, drive effective remedy and demonstrate public accountability in the field of business and human rights”, David Hammond, CEO, Human Rights at Sea

The [“Are the 2011 UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) Working Effectively and being Rigorously Applied in the Maritime Industry?”] report acknowledges individual company efforts to embed the [UNGPs] and ensure...protection of individual’s fundamental rights while working at sea, but the[y]…do not yet represent a majority…

[T]he issue is…rarely championed...by industry bodies, while membership associations are only now starting to wake up to the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) focus to evaluate how far advanced companies are with their sustainability actions. “[C]ollective unity and agreed policy…remains marginalized and not taken seriously. The subject is left to be championed by individuals from a CSR perspective…[who face]…internal resistance.”

“[UNGPs] have great potential to improve human rights at sea by expanding responsibility…to commercial maritime companies. Companies must…avoid paying lip-service to the issue…[and]…tackle the unique challenges and complexities of the maritime environment when…addressing human rights’ impacts in the supply chain. States must make sure…national legal frameworks and supporting legislation is available [and]…robustly enforced...”, [David Hammond]