EU must act before thousands more lives are lost, say shipowners to UN

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The humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean Sea is spiralling out of control.  EU Member States must act urgently to prevent the loss of thousands more lives, as hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees seek to escape to Europe in boats that are unfit for purpose and which are largely operated by people smugglers.

This is the key message which the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the principal global trade association for ship operators, will deliver to a high-level United Nations inter-agency meeting on the crisis, being hosted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London on 4 March.