News
Briefings on the events affecting merchant shipping, seafarers, ports and maritime trade — each built from a named, verifiable source, with PMRC's assessment kept separate from the facts.
How we compile this page
PMRC does not report news of its own. Every entry summarises a development published by an authoritative body and links to the original source. Where a source does not display a publication date, we say so rather than estimate one. Analysis is labelled and never mixed into the summary.
Coverage
The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, has appealed for international efforts to secure the release of 44 seafarers being held captive in Somali waters by pirates and armed robbers. The crews are aboard three vessels — Honour 25, Eureka and Sward — hijacked in separate incidents between April and May off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
More briefings
The IMO Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, has called on Member States to refrain from actions that endanger merchant ships and put seafarers' lives at risk. Speaking to the organisation's Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers, he warned of the severe impact of geopolitical tensions on the shipping industry.
The Seafarer Workforce Report 2026, published jointly by BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping, estimates that the global fleet is served by approximately 2.57 million seafarers. Despite the size of that workforce, the report identifies a shortage of 39,100 officers holding certificates under the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), alongside a surplus of 56,890 ratings.
Pakistan's Ministry of Maritime Affairs has initiated work on a comprehensive Blue Economy Policy intended to develop the country's maritime sector. A high-level meeting chaired by the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, directed the ministry to accelerate policy development, with consultations involving relevant ministries, provincial governments, industry and academic institutions.
Pakistan and Belgium have agreed to explore new avenues of cooperation in port development and the blue economy. The understanding was reached at a meeting in Islamabad between the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, and the Belgian Ambassador, Charles-Idesbald Van Der Gracht De Rommerswael.
Why we track these developments
A piracy incident, a change in shipping regulation or a new port agreement each carry consequences that outlast the headline. PMRC tracks these developments because they set the conditions that maritime policy has to work within — for Pakistan’s trade routes, its seafarers and the ports on which its economy depends.
Where a development affects your institution or your work, the Centre can examine it properly: what changed, what it implies, and what options follow.
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