OPINION: Human rights at sea must be upheld by the law

WHEN Human Rights at Sea was established in April 2014, the concept of universal human rights applying at sea, as equally as they do on land was not explicitly recognised across the wider maritime industry. After all, piracy was on the decline, slavery in the fishing industry was largely invisible to the public and cases of seafarer abandonment were under-reported. Any worker-related issues of the day were seen in the context of labour rights and business economics.