LONDON (Diya TV) — Indian seafarers are once again the most abandoned at sea, with 411 Indian crew members left stranded on ships in just the first half of this year. This alarming trend, highlighted by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), underscores the growing crisis in maritime labor rights.
So far, 1,672 seafarers on 116 vessels have been abandoned this year. The ITF projects this figure may surpass the 2023 record of 1,983 abandoned seafarers on 129 vessels. Among those abandoned last year, 401 were Indian, reflecting a troubling pattern for the second consecutive year.
The ITF, based in London, recently shared distressing accounts of 16 Indian seafarers abandoned on two ships in the UAE, operated by AIM Global Shipping & Fuel Supply. These crews have endured months without pay, air-conditioning, and basic provisions. On the “Seashine 7,” anchored in Sharjah, six Indians are owed over $40,000 in unpaid wages. Meanwhile, on the “Sunshine 7,” ten Indians are due $35,000. This ship, flying a Tanzanian flag, was deregistered in September 2022 and lacks air-conditioning and refrigeration, forcing the crew to sleep on deck due to the heat. The ITF is currently negotiating with the vessel owners.
A significant 75% of the abandoned vessels this year operate under flags of convenience (FOC). This practice involves registering ships under foreign flags to sidestep stringent labor and tax regulations. Both “Seashine 7” and “Sunshine 7” are registered under such FOCs, with Palau and Tanzania respectively. The ITF recently added Gabon and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) to its list of FOC countries. Eswatini, despite being landlocked, saw a 675% increase in ship registrations post-Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, illustrating the loopholes shipowners exploit.
ITF President Paddy Crumlin criticized the FOC system, stating, “Registering in a country with no accountability or regulation enables abandonment, death, exploitation, and wage theft. These countries prioritize revenue over regulation.”
Steve Trowsdale, ITF’s inspectorate coordinator, added that Indian crewing agents are notorious for sending seafarers to be abandoned. “Many Indian seafarers are unaware of the ships they board and some pay just to get service certificates,” said Louis Gomes, vice-president of the National Union of Seafarers of India.
Abandonment, as defined by the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006, occurs when a shipowner fails to cover repatriation costs, neglects maintenance and support, or unilaterally severs ties with a seafarer without paying wages for at least two months. This year, ITF reports nearly identical numbers of abandoned vessels and seafarers within just five months compared to last year.
Recent incidents include Middle East Marine LLC, a UAE-based firm, involved in 17 abandonment cases across South Asia since late 2022. Affected crews, primarily from Myanmar, Indonesia, and India, have faced non-payment of wages, lack of food, and withheld passports. ITF described this as the “worst case of serial seafarer abandonment ever seen.”
This crisis extends beyond the Middle East. ITF’s Fair Practices Committee highlighted the broader issue of FOCs, noting that 43 countries now fall under this category. These registries, often in economically distressed nations, allow shipowners to evade responsibility while exploiting labor.
At a press conference, Crumlin emphasized that ESG standards have yet to penetrate the shipping industry, enabling such abuses. Trowsdale recounted severe cases of abandonment, including a seafarer trapped on a vessel for 12 years without pay for nine of them.
