The Unions have managed to gather over 920,000 signatures under the anti-piracy Enough is Enough petition, the PortNews correspondent reports quoting Alexander Bodnya, the Chairman of the Council of the Baltic regional organization of the Russian Trade Union of Seafarers.
According to Sergei Fishov, coordinator of the International Transport Workers' Federation in Russia, most signatures were collected in the Philippines, India and Japan. Russia shares the fourth place with Ukraine. These figures, he said, reflect the fact that the proportion of Philippines and India nationals among the crew members of ships that sail in hostile areas.
There were 16,500 signatures collected in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, not counting those who supported the action via the Internet.
The campaign to collect signatures under the Enough is Enough petition was launched on May 20, 2010 with the support of maritime unions, ship owners and insurers. The action has drawn support of such associations as BIMCO (The Baltic and International Maritime Council), ICS (International Chamber of Shipping), INTERTANKO (International Association of Independent Tanker Owners), ISF (International Shipping Federation), ITF (International Transport Workers Federation), IFSMA (International Federation of Shipmasters' Association).