maritime piracy humanitarian response programme (mphrp)

In recent years nearly 5000 seafarers have been hijacked and detained for months often in appalling conditions, while thousands of others have been the victims of a pirate attack. Given these numerous concerns, a pan-industry alliance of ship owners, unions, managers, manning agents, insurers and shipping- and welfare associations (maritime, labour, faith or secular) has come together to establish the "Maritime Piracy: a Humanitarian Response Programme" (MPHRP). The objectives of this Programme address the three phases of "pre-, during and post-incident", with the aim of implementing a model of assisting seafarers and their families with the humanitarian aspects of a traumatic incident caused by a piracy attack, armed robbery or being taken hostage.