Newsroom Blog
IT IS rare for dockers to refuse to work a ship on political grounds these days, although it does happen. Trade unionists in South Africa, for instance, have in recent years prevented discharge of a consignment of arms for Zimbabwe and sent away vessels owned by Israeli interests.
Shipowners understandably take a dim view of such things. Such actions are in restraint of trade and often penalise parties that have little to do with the issue.
The same logic should surely apply when governments rather than organised labour attempt to impose the restrictions. Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines believes that the sanctions it now faces from the US, the UK, Bermuda and other jurisdictions contravene legal basics, and it may well have a case.
Lloyd’s List does not approve of how the Ahmadinejad administration behaves. We have every sympathy with those in Tehran demonstrating for democracy. Nor do we regard the prospect of a country whose president wants to remove Israel from the map getting its hands on nuclear weapons as felicitous.
But these are questions for the diplomats. If shipping lines become targets, where does the process stop? What happens if friendly port states start playing tit-for-tat?
The list of nations with a less-than-impeccable outlook on human rights is lengthy indeed, and many are active in the maritime sector. But taking pot shots at shipping by way of student-style gesture politics will do nothing to reduce it.
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