UN chief calls for cooperation on maritime shipping mechanism

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for engagement and cooperation from relevant parties to establish a confidence-building mechanism aimed at safeguarding essential goods through maritime chokepoints. The task force, formed in March, has developed a practical and time-bound mechanism initially focused on fertilizers and related raw materials, with the potential to be expanded to other products.

The primary goal is to reduce immediate risks, support orderly and predictable transit, and rebuild confidence for diplomacy and de-escalation. Guterres emphasized that the mechanism can be quickly operationalized due to encouraging international support, particularly from vulnerable countries. However, he stressed that it is not a substitute for fully restoring navigational rights and freedoms or for political solutions to end conflicts.

Guterres cautioned that the mechanism is a first step to demonstrate that risks can be reduced, civilians protected, and essential goods' movement secured even amid conflict. He highlighted that the UN Office for Project Services head has been in intense contact with all involved countries to implement a mechanism for registering and verifying ships carrying fertilizers and related products, with registration extending to other products.

The mechanism would facilitate verification, monitoring, and deconfliction in Oman, ensuring uninterrupted circulation of these products. It would not alter any member state's rights or obligations under international law, with sovereign decisions remaining in the hands of participating member states. The UN serves as a neutral facilitator.

Continuous attacks and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea are constraining the movement of energy, fertilizers, and other essential commodities, causing higher prices, hunger, weaker harvests, and greater suffering, especially for vulnerable populations. Guterres stressed that respecting international law, protecting civilian shipping, infrastructure, and seafarers, upholding navigational rights and freedoms, ending attacks against commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the Black Sea, and restoring navigational rights and freedoms in the Strait of Hormuz and combating attacks in the Red Sea and around Bab al-Mandab are crucial.

He reiterated that maritime chokepoints must not become tools of coercion, and the world's food supply must not become collateral damage of conflict.