The UK-based Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme  has joined forces with Human Rights at Sea through a partnership Memorandum of Understanding to share resources, investigate incidents of egregious human rights abuse at sea and pursue justice for victims.

CHIRP’s Director Maritime, Adam Parnell, said: “Many safety incident reports that we receive arise from breaches of regulatory and legal obligations which are in place to protect the safety of seafarers and the environment. This Memorandum of Understanding allows CHIRP and Human Rights at Sea to work collaboratively in identifying and addressing these issues.”

Human Rights at Sea CEO, David Hammond, said: “This new partnership backed by our respective Board’s support means our NGO can confidentially access data of incidents to be investigated with the aim of supporting pathways to justice for victims of human rights abuse at sea. It will further inform both our organisations as to lessons identified to help mitigate the factors triggering these unnecessary incidents.”

CHIRP Maritime aims to improve safety at sea worldwide through its confidential and independent reporting programme.

It welcomes safety-related reports from anywhere in the world and from all parts of the maritime industry, including commercial seafarers, fishers, recreational and leisure mariners, and anyone who works in a port or harbour. It also welcomes reports from members of the public who use ports, harbours or other means of maritime transport, such as ferry and cruise vessel passengers.

Human Rights at Sea will act as one of the key stakeholders to which CHIRP Maritime reports can be reviewed and accordingly acted upon. The NGO will also act as a conduit into the UN system through its UN ECOSOC accreditation, as required.