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This combination of undated photos provided by the International Transport Workers\u2019 Federation shows conditions on board the Sister 12, a cargo ship whose workers say they haven’t been paid in more than a year. [ITF via AP]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
More ships than ever are being abandoned around the world by their owners, according to the United Nations\u2019 labor and maritime organizations, leaving thousands of workers stuck on board without pay or the means to travel home to their families.<\/p>\n
Cases have doubled in the past three years, impacting more than 3,000 seafarers across some 230 ships in 2024, according to an Associated Press analysis of UN data. Last year\u2019s figures could rise even further given the time that can elapse before vulnerable, frustrated workers reach out to report their plight.<\/p>\n
By international guidelines, workers are considered abandoned if shipowners fail to pay two or more months of wages, provide basic supplies or otherwise stop communicating with the crew.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only leverage seafarers have sometimes is to stay on a vessel until they get paid,\u201d said Helen Meldrum, a ship inspector with the International Transport Workers\u2019 Federation, which advocates for ship workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a phenomenon rarely visible from shore, and one hitting hardest the smaller shipping companies servicing less profitable trade routes. Many crews reporting a lack of pay are on corroded ships built decades ago. The top countries for cases last year were the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
The worst cases have seen entire crews suffering weeks without adequate food or fresh water, or living on dark ships without electricity. Some workers languish on board for years, such as Abdul Nasser Saleh, whom the Associated Press profiled last year in a story exploring abandonment in US ports and abroad.<\/p>\n This combination of photos provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows the deck of the cargo ship Al-Maha, abandoned by its owners, at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. Saleh lived and worked on the Al-Maha for nearly a decade without pay. [Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The AP found that shipowners often stopped paying workers when their costs skyrocketed or business dried up. Owners commonly left ships docked in ports where crews lacked immigration paperwork to step foot on land or at anchorages only reachable by boat.<\/p>\n The number of abandonment cases in 2024 surpassed the earlier record set in 2023.<\/p>\n Governments and organizations like Meldrum\u2019s can report abandoned ships to the UN, which verifies the basic facts and petitions the owner and relevant authorities to find a resolution.<\/p>\n Meldrum has recently been appealing to authorities for help getting proper food, fuel and back-pay for crews on three cargo ships run by a company called Friends Shipping. Workers on board the Sister 12, now moored off the coast of Yemen, have been confined to the ship for more than a year without receiving a paycheck, according to her review.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re essentially imprisoned on these vessels,\u201d Meldrum said. \u201cIt goes way beyond exploitation.\u201d<\/p>\n Abdul Razzaq Abdul Khaliq, a Syrian sailor on board the Sister 12, wrote to AP over WhatsApp that the ship was full of insects and the crew had to use seawater for bathing. Photos and videos he shared show the faucets spewing cloudy brown water, rust blanketing the deck and only a few rotting pieces of produce in the pantry.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no food on the ship, there is no water, there is no life,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Friends Shipping, which has offices in Turkey and Dubai, has a pattern of abandonment linked to its fleet. Nineteen of the 22 ships listed on its website have been named in abandonment cases, according to UN data, though some of those ships may have since been sold. The company boasts a slogan of \u201cWe Make the World Smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n Meldrum said Friends Shipping hires workers who are unaware of the company\u2019s reputation, then leaves them in such dire conditions that many are willing to go home at the first chance \u2013 even without pay. A new crew will be staffed and the same thing happens, she said.<\/p>\n Friends Shipping didn\u2019t respond to AP\u2019s questions about abandonment on their fleet or the welfare of their crews. A person who responded to messages sent to the company\u2019s WhatsApp number in Turkey said that provisions were supplied to the crew on the Sister 12 and all workers on the ship would be disembarked, without providing details.<\/p>\n Despite global treaties on labor rights, there are few avenues for holding owners accountable in an industry where ships are often registered under nondescript shell companies and fly the flags of countries unrelated to their operations.<\/p>\n Flag registries are expected to act as first responders to help repatriate seafarers and ensure they have food and medical care, according to UN guidelines. A decade-old amendment to the Maritime Labor Convention signed by more than 90 nations also requires the flag states to vouch for the ships they register by requiring insurance to cover several months of wages if business goes south.<\/p>\n AP\u2019s reporting found many flag states still don\u2019t intervene. Panama, Palau and Tanzania each registered dozens of the ships reported as abandoned in 2024.<\/p>\n The yearslong rise in abandonment cases could mean more seafarers are becoming willing to report abuse by their employers, but the overall figures likely underestimate the true picture of worker exploitation at sea. Cases first spiked amid the global pandemic and have kept rising as shipowners are pinched by inflation and other rising costs.<\/p>\n The ITF, the group that advocates for workers, said it helped workers recover more than $10 million in back pay last year. Inspectors were still fighting for another $10 million they say is owed. [AP]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"fleet-of-abandoned-ships-keeps-growing-leaving-more-sailors-stuck-at-sea0\"](\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP25027832415519.jpg?1738166942956\")