Seafarers urged to remember their rights when transiting warlike areas, following renewed threat of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea

Nautilus is reminding seafarers of their rights when working onboard vessels due to transit the warlike operations area covering the Red Sea, following an announcement by Yemen's Houthi movement that it is imposing a 'maritime blockade' on the Israeli port of Haifa.

In a televised address, a Houthi spokesman said that if a company has ships present in or heading to the port of Haifa – or has any indirect connection to the port – then its fleet is 'prohibited' from transiting the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean and is subject to attack by the Houthi armed forces.

The announcement represents a potential re-escalation in the Red Sea, after the Houthis agreed to suspend attacks on US shipping earlier this month in return for the cessation of US strikes on Yemen.

The Houthis have repeatedly struck targets within Israel, including Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.

Your WOAC rights

Nautilus International is one of the three bodies that make up the UK's Warlike Operations Area Committee (WOAC), along with the RMT union and the UK Chamber of Shipping. It is an independent body providing a forum for shipping companies and seafarer unions to consider threat levels and monitor 'warlike activities' to determine whether war risk service clauses in collective agreements should be invoked.

The WOAC and has made the following recommendations regarding vessels that:

• have an owner or management connection with companies that are owned in whole or in part by Israeli nationals, and/or
• are owned by a company that is trading to Israel, and/or
• have called at a port in Israel since 21 June 2023, or are scheduled to call at a port in Israel, and/or
• have any other current established link to Israel, or has had at any time since 21 June 2023
• have an ownership or management connection with companies that are owned by UK and/or US nationals, and/or
• are registered under the UK and/or US flag

The recommendations apply south of latitude 16.5 degrees north within the Southern Red Sea, the Bab al Mandab straits, and the section of the Gulf of Aden west of 53°E and north of a straight line connecting Cape Guardafui and the western tip of the island of Socotra.

The recommendations:

(a) any seafarers who choose not to proceed to these areas should be allowed not to join the ship, or to leave the ship at a preceding port as appropriate; and
(b) the company should make special payments to all crew members remaining onboard of 100% of normal pay in respect of each day during which the ship is within the warlike operations area. Such payments are to be in addition to all other remuneration earned.

In addition, WOAC states that:

• the existing National Maritime Board compensation levels should be doubled in respect of the death or detention of any seafarer working on a vessel in the area
• companies should agree to underwrite any personal life assurance policies of seafarers serving onboard vessels in the warlike operations area that might become invalidated, as a result of their service in the warlike operations area