Mariners’ union warns of ‘unacceptable’ lack of safety as rising tide of pirate attacks threatens UK’s merchant fleet. The UK government is facing growing pressure to provide Royal Navy patrols to protect merchant vessels against international piracy on the high seas. Amid growing fears for their members’ safety, mariners’ union Numast is urging the government to recognise that the global shipping trade is a soft target for pirates and terrorists, and that the Royal Navy should be engaged in convoys to protect British interests at sea. The issue has been raised in parliament and will be prominent this week during an inter national conference on safety at sea at the National Mar itime Museum in Greenwich. Numast’s Andrew Linington said: “We have had members killed, injured and held hostage. We’re not talking about isolated incidents, it’s almost one ship a day being attacked. Industry and government should be doing much more about this. We are calling for the Royal Navy to be given its historical role helping to fight piracy.” Full Story
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