May 20, 2025
Thank you, Mr. President, for convening today’s important debate. Thank you also to Secretary-General António Guterres, Ms. Melina Travlos, and Mr. Christian Bueger for your informative briefings.
The United States agrees with Greece that this is an issue of critical importance for international peace and security. For this reason, President Trump directed firm action to safeguard maritime security and economic prosperity against many threats.
Mr. President, some of these threats come from terrorist groups. For example, the Houthis have terrorized maritime traffic passing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for years, affecting 30 percent of all international container traffic. They have targeted multiple ships, killed innocent sailors, and hijacked the Galaxy Leader.
At President Trump’s direction, the United States took punishing action to defend freedom of navigation against the Houthis. Under pressure, the Houthis have backed down from attacking American ships, but they will face further punishing strikes if they attack U.S. vessels again. We condemn their continued attacks on Israel and support Israel’s right to respond.
Mr. President, some countries also pose serious threats. They support terrorist groups, bully other countries, or use coercion to disrupt maritime routes and trade. The Houthis were able to threaten Red Sea maritime traffic due largely to Iran’s defiance of the UN arms embargo on the Houthis. This Council must not tolerate this defiance and should impose consequences for sanctions violations.
Tehran does not threaten maritime security only through the support of terrorist groups however, it also acts directly. Iran’s repeated, unlawful attacks on and seizure of commercial vessels transiting international waters is yet another threat to freedom of navigation. We call for Iran to release the vessels it still holds, including the MSC Aries and Advantage Sweet.
Mr. President, another threat to global maritime security is China. We have seen China’s coercion time and again in the South China Sea and its aggressive actions in the Taiwan Strait.
The theme of today’s debate refers to international cooperation. The world should look at China’s actions – rather than its empty claims – when judging its contributions to international cooperation. Let us remember, China dangerously obstructed a Philippine operation near Scarborough Reef, even as it touted leadership during its Security Council presidency in February. Throughout 2024, China unlawfully blocked the Philippines from accessing and exploiting its exclusive economic zone, undermining high seas freedoms for all countries.
The United States stands with the Philippines. Once again, we condemn China’s dangerous and unlawful actions in the South China Sea. And we call on China to abide by the 2016 Arbitral Ruling.
Mr. President, to improve maritime security we must also ensure the world’s shipping lanes remain open to navigation and free from threats of violence, crime, and other illicit activities.
The Houthis, as mentioned, continue to obtain arms in defiance of the Security Council’s resolutions. The United States now sees evidence that the Houthis, in providing support to Al Shabab, are acquiring dual use components and imagery from China.
The UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism, UNVIM, can be a critical tool in preventing those arms from reaching the Houthis via maritime routes. In fact, earlier this month, UNVIM successfully interdicted four shipping containers of illicit materials bound for Houthi-controlled ports. This interdiction clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of this mechanism. We all need to continue supporting its operations.
To that point, we urge Member States to donate directly to UNVIM, which needs only $11 million dollars per year to operate at full capacity.
Mr. President, the United States welcomes the recent collaboration between the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the Malta-based Global Centre for Maritime Sanctions Monitoring, also known as the Spinola Centre, to provide capacity building, training, vessel tracking, and analysis to Member States.
We also strongly support the collaborative efforts of the Registry Information Sharing Compact, RISC. RISC was founded by the flag registries of Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands to combat the practice of “flag hopping” by vessels and shipping companies that are suspected of engaging in illicit practices, including UN sanctions violations.
The RISC currently includes 15 shipping registries, representing more than 20 percent of the world’s flagged vessels and nearly 50 percent of global gross tonnage.
We urge registries that are not currently members of the RISC to join this important initiative, one that is quickly setting the global standard for compliance with international maritime law.
Mr. President, once again, the United States thanks Greece for this initiative and looks forward to continued engagement on international efforts to counter maritime security threats.
I thank you.