Behind every stranded vessel and every datapoint are seafarers operating in some of the most trying conditions in global shipping. Two mariners spoke exclusively to Lloyd’s List about what it is like to be trapped in the MEG, or attempt a transit of the Strait of Hormuz, amid missile threats, drone attacks and mounting uncertainty

Forward Seamen’s Union of India said the operator of the vessel in question was not acting quickly enough to repatriate the crew

Experienced seafarers are increasingly refusing voyages linked to Ukraine and Russia as drone attacks intensify across the Black Sea, raising fears that crews are being deliberately targeted and fuelling concerns over who will operate the ships that continue trading in the region

Centre for Ocean Policy & Economics is calling for the establishment of minimum international standards for the treatment of detained or prosecuted seafarers

Chinese and Vietnamese search-and-rescue vessels have rescued 45 of the vessel’s crew, but many seafarers remain unaccounted for

Russia and Ukraine have traded attacks on shipping in recent weeks, with 10 seafarers killed on one vessel earlier this week

Burning product tanker Kavomaleas was already drifting towards Iranian coastline

The bulker’s owners say one crew member is missing and two are injured

The Ukrainian Navy called the attack ‘an act of terror against peaceful navigation and a gross violation of international humanitarian law’

India has directed ship owners, ship managers and recruitment agencies to stop deploying the country’s seafarers on vessels going through the Strait of Hormuz, but adherence by shadow fleet operators could be a challenge, given their tendency to flout conventional practices

Overall, bulker accidents are down yet new threats cannot be ignored, says international owners’ association Intercargo