Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the Gulf of Guinea Declaration on the Suppression of Piracy; and what plans they have to support the International Labour Organisation to reduce the number of ships abandoned in ports across the world.

We are committed to building maritime security capability in the region through the implementation of the Yaounde maritime security architecture. In 2021 the UK was co-chair of the G7++ Friends of the Gulf of Guinea, deployed HMS Trent to the region and supported the launch of the Gulf of Guinea – Maritime Collaboration Forum. Together, these initiatives are building the capacity of regional navies and industry to address maritime insecurities and prosecute incidents of maritime crime.

The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) has provisions to protect seafarers in the case of abandonment. In July 2021 the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organisation called for guidance for Port State and Flag State authorities on how to deal with and prevent reoccurrence of abandonment cases. The UK is contributing to the development of those guidelines.