7 July, 2010The world push for piracy action launched in May by trade unions, ship-owners, associations and insurers is a petition for their campaign to persuade governments to make the necessary resources available to end the problem of Somalia based piracy. The goal is to deliver half a million signatures by September 23, 2010 for the IMO World Maritime Day.
GLOBAL: Piracy at sea threatens the lives of seafarers, and recently due to the increase in pirate attacks in the Somalia region, the ITF and virtually all employer organizations in the shipping industry have sponsored the global e-petition against maritime piracy. Currently at least 379 seafarers from 25 countries are being held hostage and in the last two years over 1800 seafarers have been kidnapped.
"With one click everyone can now make their feelings about piracy known, and then pass the link on to all their colleagues around the world who feel the same. In this way we can signal our belief that it is past time for all governments to do what has to be done to protect seafarers, ships and the goods that they carry and on which we all rely," said ITF General Secretary David Cockroft.
The aim of the e-petition is to reach at least half a million signatures in time for World Maritime Day, which is organized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London on September 23, 2010. The present number of signatures is around 65,000, but a lot more is needed. Sign the petition at http://www.endpiracypetition.org/