Charity Human Rights at Sea has announced it will close due to a lack of sustainable funding and operating model.

The seafarer rights charity was established in 2014 and has helped support policy and legal changes for protections at sea in over 50 countries.

It has also participated in three EU funded programmes, one leading to the new EU ‘BlueRights’ initiative led by former board members.

However, the organisation has been forced to take the decision to close as it was unable to secure sustainable funding to allow it to continue to operate.

The charity’s website will still be preserved following the closure to continue to allow free access to a decade’s worth of reports and data.

The Geneva Declaration on Human Rights at Sea continues to gain traction as the landmark document on maritime human rights and the trustees said they ‘look forward’ to others continuing to promote it.

“David Hammond, the founder and former CEO of Human Rights at Sea will be leading work to ensure that the website is preserved, freely accessible to all,” the charity said in a statement.

“The trustees would like to thank the supporters, funders, advisors, staff and partners who have supported the charity's work over the past ten years, and especially David whose vision, energy and drive has done so much to establish and advance the cause of human rights at sea.”

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