Ocha News

The ongoing oil pollution incident from the grounded 203,000 DWT bulk carrier MV Wakashio is threatening an ecological catastrophe around the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, endangering corals, fish and other marine life already under threat from climate change (IPCC 2018).In addition, it risks bringing devastating consequences for the economy, food security, health and tourism industry. Tourism in Mauritius - a popular destination for its pristine beaches - reportedly contributed about $1.6 billion to its economy during the last year…

Thai rescue workers pulled three more bodies from the Andaman Sea, officials said on Tuesday, as the grim task of identifying more than 40 dead gets underway following a boat accident off the coast of Phuket last week."Three more bodies were found. One found near Phi Phi island," Somnuek Prempramote, commander of Naval Area 3, told a news conference in the popular holiday island off Thailand's west coast.The boat, the Phoenix, went down off Phuket in high seas on Thursday with 101 people on board, including 89 tourists, all but two of them from China, during an outing to a small island. Twelve Thai crew were also on board.The death toll…

A Saudi-led military coalition and the government of Yemen denied four oil tankers access to a Yemeni port last week, a move that could hurt the flow of aid and exacerbate a cholera outbreak in the country, a United Nations agency said. The vessels were on their way to Hodeidah, a Red Sea port controlled by the rebel Houthi movement that is aligned with Iran. Saudi Arabia, a regional rival of Iran, is leading a military coalition fighting the Houthis. More than 1,900 people have died from cholera in Yemen and 400,000 cases have been reported since the start of the outbreak in April. The disease spreads in polluted water, and fuel is needed to run pumps for clean water and power generators in hospitals, among other uses. Yemen is also facing a looming famine.

India and Thailand are set to firm up cooperation to combat terrorism, and boost maritime security, defence ties and trade during Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s maiden visit to India, reports PTI. Prayut has earlier said that maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean would be put on the table for talks with his Indian counterpart. The expected cooperation will include military exercises, information exchange and operations to eradicate terrorism and piracy, he said. India’s Vice-President Hamid Ansari told the leadership of Thailand that India-Thailand collaboration is necessary to ensure freedom of navigation and connectivity in the Southeast Asian region, says the South Indian news paper Hindu.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Thursday he had ordered the navy to conduct search and rescue missions for thousands of migrants adrift at sea as Thailand's prime minister said his country would not provide shelter. Southeast Asia is battling a migrant crisis that has seen hundreds of "boat people", mostly Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshi migrants who fled persecution and poverty at home or were abducted by traffickers, pushed back out to sea by Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Many now face sickness, and possible starvation. "I have further ordered @tldm_rasmi (navy) and APMM (Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency) to conduct search and rescue efforts on Rohingya boats," Najib said on his Twitter account.

Malaysia detained more than a thousand Bangladeshi and Rohingya refugees, including dozens of children, police said, a day after authorities rescued hundreds stranded off the coast of Indonesia's western tip. There has been a huge increase in refugees from impoverished Bangladesh and Myanmar drifting on boats to Malaysia and Indonesia in recent days after Thailand, usually the initial destination in the region's people smuggling network, announced a crackdown on the trafficking. Over 100 refugees from these countries were found wandering around in southern Thailand last week, apparently after they were abandoned by the smugglers. An estimated 25…

At least five merchant vessels carrying food are stuck off Yemen as warships from a Saudi-led coalition search them for weapons bound for Iran-allied Houthi rebel forces, with delays adding to a humanitarian crisis. Yemen imports more than 90 percent of its food, including most of its wheat and all its rice, to feed a population of 25 million. Much of its needs had been serviced by foreign ships, although shipping lines have now reduced or stopped port calls. Ship tracking data showed at least five cargo ships were anchored off Yemen unable to enter Yemeni waters. "Disruption of navigation in Yemen's territorial waters will adversely affect food security," U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said.

OCHA, the training center for dock workers in the port of Antwerp, will collaborate with APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Center to organise joint courses for dock workers and operators from ports in other countries. The new courses will meet the growing demand for specialist training in various growth countries. OCHA and APEC will collaborate in the development, promotion and carrying out of the training courses for dockers. OCHA will be responsible for developing the courses and training the trainers in Belgium and abroad, while APEC will take care of the international promotion and coordination with international delegations. The two parties have defined the terms of their collaboration in a Memorandum of Understanding…

As global attention in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy turns towards the massive job of repairing long-term damage and restoring battered infrastructures, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is playing its part in co-ordinating efforts to attend to the maritime infrastructure in the affected regions. IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos has stressed the strategic importance of ensuring that ports, navigational aids and other key elements of the maritime infrastructure are in effective working order as soon as possible, both to facilitate the medium and long-term recovery of the affected areas and to ensure that short-term aid arriving by sea can do so efficiently and in safety.

An oil storage unit at a power plant in Jiyyeh, 30 km south of Beirut, sustained damage between July 13 and July 15. Precise details of the incident are yet to emerge. Some 10,000 tons of oil escaped and there is potential altogether for up to 35,000 tons to be spilled. The Lebanese coastline 70-80 km north of the power plant – approximately a third of the Lebanese coastline – has been affected. These areas are composed of sandy beaches, rocky beaches, fishing ports and marinas. At the global level, IMO, referring to the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (the OPRC Convention), is coordinating the international effort to assist Lebanon to respond to the oil spill…