India and Liberia Launch a UN Group to Protect Merchant Ships and Seafarers
India and Liberia launched a new Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on 25 September 2026. A "Group of Friends" is an informal club of countries at the UN that work together on one issue.
The two countries will be co-chairs (joint leaders) of the group. About 25 countries attended the first meeting, including major ship-owning nations, countries with the biggest ship registries and countries that supply the most seafarers.
The group has three priorities: safety and technical standards of ships, security of commercial ships against piracy and armed attacks, and the protection and welfare of seafarers (people who work on ships). It will work through existing bodies such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
India's External Affairs Minister called attacks on commercial ships and their crews "legally and morally indefensible". He pointed to attacks from the Gulf and the Red Sea to the Black Sea, in which several Indian seafarers were killed or went missing in 2026.
The two countries are natural partners here. Liberia has the world's largest ship registry by gross tonnage, so a huge number of ships fly its flag. India is the world's second-largest supplier of seafarers, with about 12% of the global seafaring workforce.
The IMO recorded 171 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2025, about 17% more than the 146 recorded in 2024.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO)
The International Maritime Organization, or IMO, is the United Nations body that makes the global rules for ships. It sets standards on how ships must be built, how safe they must be, how much they may pollute and how their crews must be trained. It is a specialised agency of the UN, and its headquarters is in London. You can think of it as the "rule book writer" for international shipping.
The new India-Liberia Group of Friends will not replace the IMO. It will push for action inside the IMO and ILO on ship safety, security of sea lanes and seafarer welfare. The IMO's own data showing 171 piracy and armed robbery incidents in 2025 is one of the reasons the group says stronger global action is needed.
Flag State and Flags of Convenience (Open Ship Registries)
Every merchant ship must be registered in one country, just like every car must have a number plate from one state. That country is called the ship's flag state. The ship flies that country's flag and follows that country's laws. When a ship is registered in a country that has no real connection to the owner, mainly to save money or face lighter rules, the practice is called using a flag of convenience. Countries that register foreign-owned ships freely are called open registries.
The new group brings together the countries with the biggest registries and the countries that supply the most crews. Liberia, as the largest flag state, carries legal responsibility for thousands of ships that sail through dangerous waters. India, as a top supplier of seafarers, has many citizens working on ships flagged in other countries. Working together lets flag states and crew-supplying states push jointly for safer sea lanes.
Strait of Hormuz: Geography and Strategic Significance
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow sea passage between Iran to the north and Oman to the south. It links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, which opens into the Arabian Sea. It is the only sea route out of the Gulf for most of the oil and gas exported by Gulf countries. Because so much energy passes through it, any attack or blockade there quickly raises fuel prices and shipping insurance costs around the world.
Attacks on ships in and near the Strait of Hormuz were among the incidents India cited while launching the Group of Friends. Because so much of India's energy and so many Indian seafarers pass through this narrow waterway, its security is a direct national interest for India.
- Group launched: Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers, 25 September 2026, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly
- Co-chairs: India and Liberia; about 25 countries attended the first meeting
- Three priorities: ship safety and technical standards; security of commercial shipping; protection of seafarers
- IMO data: 171 piracy and armed robbery incidents against ships in 2025, up about 17% from 146 in 2024
- Liberia: world's largest ship registry by gross tonnage (over 300 million GT)
- India: world's second-largest supplier of seafarers, about 12.16% of the global workforce (BIMCO-ICS 2026)
- About 80% of internationally traded goods by volume move by sea; nearly 2 million seafarers work on merchant ships worldwide
- 2026 incidents cited: Gulf of Oman (Cape Dove, one Indian sailor killed), Strait of Hormuz (El Gaya, one Indian crew member missing), Black Sea (Omorfi, Indian chief officer killed; Golden Leo, four Indian seafarers killed)