Corroded desperation: Around 300 abandoned ships with crew members fighting for their lives dot seas around the world. Credit: Rut Affatati, Pexels.
In a shocking report, Associated Press has revealed that cases of neglected workers stuck on board their ship have doubled in 2024, with their employers leaving them with no viable means to survive, and thousands of miles away from their families in vast ocean desperation.
The UN’s labour and maritime organisations have found that as many as 230 ships are abandoned currently, with the real figure believed to be much higher, as workers on board becoming increasingly threatened, vulnerable, and hopeless. Something has to be done, and fast.
By international guidelines, workers on board vessels are considered abandoned if their ship owners fail to pay at least two months wages to them, provide basic supplies to live on, or stop communicating with them entirely.
And for some 3,000, and quite likely a lot more, this is a damning reality that presents itself at a time when labour organisation and safety should be at its utmost highest.
No other option but for crew to stay on board until paid
“The only leverage seafarers have sometimes is to stay on a vessel until they get paid,” said Helen Meldrum, a ship inspector with the International Transport Workers’ Federation, actively campaigning for ship workers’ rights.
Among those hit the hardest by the shocking treatment are workers on smaller ships, with its companies having to resort to servicing less profitable trade routes.
Many crews are complaining of their neglect, which includes stark lack of pay, and the sorry state of their accommodation. Some of the ships are corroding, and were built decades ago.
UAE, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia among culprits for sea neglect
The top culprits for cases last year were UAE, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Some of the worst instances have seen entire crews going weeks without proper food and fresh water, having to try to survive on vessels without electricity.
Workers such as Abdul Nasser Saleh, profiled by the Associated Press last year, have no choice but to languish on board for years, making for a torrid experience that no one should ever have to go through.
The news publication found that company owners would simply choose to stop paying their employees when costs soared, or business began to fail. Owners would regularly leave ships docked in ports where crew members lacked the necessary paperwork to successfully immigrate to the land nearby, or at anchorages only accessible by boat.
As the number of abandonment cases soared in 2024, surpassing the previous record set only the year prior, by a landslide at that, Meldrum empathises deeply with the seafarers and their families.
“They are essentially imprisoned on these vessels. It goes way beyond exploitation,” Meldrum insisted.
Can something be done to stem the commonality of this scandal?
Meldrum, and her organisation, have been desperately pleading with authorities to get the proper assistance these workers need, and to get compensation for the crew members who have not been paid in months, in many cases.
Aside from the Global Treaty on labour rights, there are some ways to actually hold owners of these ships accountable for their immoral and downright disgusting actions, in an industry where ships are often registered under mysterious shell companies, and fly flags completely unrelated to their operations.
Flag registries are expected to act as the first port of call for affected seafarers to ensure they have access to food, and to medical assistance, according to the guidelines set out by the UN.
A decade old amendment to the Maritime Labour Convention signed by more than 90 nations also requires the flag states to vouch for the ships they register by demanding insurance to cover multiple months worth of wages if business does plummet, and owners cannot afford to pay subordinates.
Flag states still do not intervene though, according to AP. Panama, Palau, and Tanzania have all registered dozens of ships reported abandoned in 2024 alone, and the number just keeps on rising.
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