Ships in Gulf risk shortages on board, industry warns

John Stawpert is marine director of the London-based International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represents the world's national shipowner associations and over 80 percent of the world merchant fleet. Here is an edited version of his interview with AFP ahead of an emergency meeting of the UN's International Maritime Organisation in London on Wednesday and Thursday. What is the impact on crews? "There are 20,000 seafarers on board 3,000 vessels of different types trapped in the Persian Gulf. ...