After several ships including one from Bangladesh were attacked in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov as the Russia-Ukraine war rages on, more than 15 countries have called for a special meeting with the UN's shipping agency.
They want to discuss the safety of ships and their crews sailing through the seas amid growing dangers to vessels.
Sailor Hadisur Rahman onboard the Bangladeshi ship named "Banglar Samriddhi" in Ukraine was killed in a missile attack, which immediately sparked a fire on the ship at the Ukrainian port at 9:25 pm (Bangladesh time) on Wednesday. However, the remaining 28 crew members of the ship were safe and managed to douse the blaze immediately.
They were later moved to a safer place on Thursday.
Many shipping firms have suspended sailings to affected Black Sea ports and other terminals in Ukraine. Insurance premiums for voyages have soared since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, an action Moscow calls a "special operation".
An Estonian-owned cargo ship sank on Thursday off Ukraine's major Black Sea port of Odessa, hours after the Bangladeshi vessel was hit by a missile or bomb at another port. This followed at least three other ships being hit by projectiles in recent days.
Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, Britain and the United States jointly called for the meeting, which is also backed by Ukraine, according to officials involved and a public document.
A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization, which has 175 member states and three associate members and tasked with safety and security of international shipping, had no immediate comment.
Greek vessels have not been attacked so far, a Greek shipping ministry official said, adding that at least five Greek-flagged ships with 39 Greek nationals were still in the area, the official said.
"We are in close contact with the captains of the Greek and Greek-owned vessels which have Greek crews sailing in the Black Sea," Greece's Shipping Minister Ioannis Plakiotakis said separately.
On Wednesday the International Transport Workers’ Federation union and other bodies designated sections of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov as "warlike operations areas", which entitles seafarers to refuse to sail to the region among other rights.