Our work
At the Foundation of Humanitarian Action at Sea, our work is centred on providing practical tools, data, and insights to support maritime actors in navigating the complexities of maritime rescue. From addressing operational challenges to supporting the coordination of diverse actors, our aim is to provide maritime stakeholders the tools and information they need to promote the safety of life at sea. Whether it’s through data-driven analysis, guidance, or curated resources, FHAS bridges the gap between policy and real-world maritime operations.
Annual Report 2025
Discover FHAS’s first year of activities.
Double Jeopardy: Legal and policy challenges facing commercial ships conducting maritime rescue
This report examines the legal, financial, and operational risks faced by commercial vessels during maritime rescues, and highlights how legal uncertainty may undermine the duty to rescue at sea.
Understanding the Duty to Rescue at Sea: Legal and Humanitarian Perspectives
The practice of maritime rescue is as old as seafaring itself. Many of the earliest international agreements on maritime commercial practice codified a legal duty to assist vessels in distress.
Humanitarian Action at Sea: Operational Challenges, Collaborative Responses
Mass Rescue at Sea : A Global Perspective
Humanitarian action at sea depends on trust, discretion, and cooperation across sectors. Through its dialogue platforms, the Foundation for Humanitarian Action at Sea brings together selected maritime, humanitarian, legal, operational, and policy actors for closed-door exchanges on the challenges surrounding rescue and assistance at sea.
All FHAS dialogue platforms are conducted under strict confidentiality, including Chatham House rules where applicable. These platforms offer a confidential space where participants can speak openly, share operational perspectives, and examine difficult questions without attribution. This discretion is central to the process. FHAS does not disclose participants’ positions or the substance of discussions, allowing the exchanges to remain candid, practical, and focused on solutions.
Over the years, FHAS has convened dialogue platforms in different regional and operational contexts. Each edition is designed around concrete challenges faced by those involved in maritime rescue, including states, the shipping sector, maritime experts, humanitarian organisations, and search and rescue professionals. Rather than repeating debates held elsewhere, the platforms focus on what can be improved in practice.
Each platform builds on previous exchanges while responding to new realities at sea. This iterative approach allows FHAS to remain close to operational needs and to support dialogue across actors who may not otherwise have the opportunity to engage in a neutral and confidential setting.
Navigating humanitarian action at sea: Maritime migration and the duty to assist
The Rise in Maritime Migration
Maritime migration is on the rise across much of the world, from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Aden to the Andaman Sea and other waterways. The growing scale in migration has exposed gaps in preparedness and response, often resulting in devastating consequences. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost in shipwrecks, many of which remain ‘invisible’ due to lack of data.
Maritime rescue: An overlooked priority
While political debates often focus on asylum, the need for rescue operations is too often neglected. International law mandates the duty to assist vessels in distress, but commercial and NGO vessels face challenges, including legal uncertainties, lack of guidance, and financial pressures.
The importance of information: Ending invisible shipwrecks
The nature of maritime migration means that reliable data is often difficult to ascertain. FHAS recognises that solving problems requires understanding them and works to strengthen information and data sources on maritime movements.
The role of FHAS
The Foundation for Humanitarian Action at Sea seeks to address these challenges by fostering dialogue amongst stakeholders, filling gaps in knowledge and guidance, and supporting maritime actors.
Explore partnership opportunities
Partnering with the Foundation for Humanitarian Action at Sea provides a unique opportunity to support constructive dialogue on key maritime issues. As we continue to develop practical tools, research, and solutions for complex maritime challenges, we welcome collaborations with organisations interested in a vision of safer seas and effective maritime rescue operations. Whether through knowledge exchange, resource sharing, or strategic cooperation, there are numerous ways to engage with this work.
