International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reveals abandonment of seafarers by ship-owners increased 87% from 2023 to 2024. Unscrupulous ship-owners abandoned 3,133 seafarers in 2024, leaving those employees to endure months of unpaid wages, poor on-board conditions, inadequate food and clean drinking water, and long periods of work without adequate rest.
There were a reported 312 vessels abandoned last year by their owners, with 28 vessels responsible for abandoning multiple crews in the same year. This massive increase in reported abandonments highlights the failure of the Flags of Convenience system that contributes to this abuse of seafarers’ rights. Ninety percent of abandoned vessels in 2024 sailed under a flag of convenience.
Here in Australia in 2022/23 we had our own example of this dereliction of responsibility by ship-owners, when a Chinese-owned Liberian-flagged livestock vessel, the Yangtze Fortune, was left abandoned for six months off the coast of Portland with 19 Filipino seafarers on board with few provisions. The crew were owed more than $250,000 in unpaid wages.
The ITF’s General Secretary Stephen Cotton, said: “The scandalous rise in reported cases of seafarer abandonment exposes the ugly truth of an industry which has relied on unchecked exploitative practices and lack of global regulation for far too long. But the solution lies in plain sight: better regulation, enforcement and accountability from governments.
“By reporting so many cases, seafarers are sending a clear message. They’ve had enough of being treated like slaves. The industry must wake up and take robust action. Those responsible must be held to account and punished. Anything less gives a green light to these appalling abuses of fundamental labour and human rights.”
Read more: 2024 worst year on record for seafarer abandonment, says ITF | ITF Seafarers