COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Bound by the laws of the sea to help vessels in distress, shipping companies say Europe’s migration crisis has placed unreasonable demands on their crews to act as lifesavers in the Mediterranean.
All too often merchant ships are diverted to help in large-scale rescue operations they are not properly equipped to handle safely because European governments haven’t deployed enough resources to deal with the escalating problem, shipping officials say.
“We are perceived as a legitimate answer to this problem. We shouldn’t be doing the rescuing in any case,” said Dimitrios Banas of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations.
Thousands of desperate migrants have perished in recent years trying reach European shores in overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels, including as many as 1,300 in the past week.
Of the 200,000 people rescued in the Mediterranean last year, about 40,000 were saved by merchant ships, according to the International Chamber of Shipping.