A latest report by the Worldwide Transport Staff Federation (ITF) confirmed an alarming 11% rise within the variety of crew abandonment circumstances in 2023 in comparison with the earlier yr.
The ITF reported a complete of 132 abandonments, which is 13 extra circumstances than in 2022.
The Maritime Labour Conference 2006 (MLC) stipulates {that a} ship is taken into account deserted if the shipowner fails to cowl the price of a seafarer’s repatriation, fails to supply obligatory upkeep and help, or severs ties with them, together with not paying contractual wages for at the least two months.
The ITF report additionally reveals that unpaid wages from 129 circumstances exceeded $12.1 million, 1,676 seafarers from deserted vessels reached out to the ITF, and Indian seafarers have been essentially the most impacted with over 400 reported circumstances.
The ITF has to this point secured greater than $10.9 million in owed wages from 60 of the deserted vessels. As circumstances proceed to be resolved and extra seafarers come ahead, the ultimate quantity is predicted to exceed $12.1 million.
ITF Inspectorate Coordinator, Steve Trowsdale, stated the rise in seafarer abandonments is “unacceptable”.
“It’s a consequence of an trade the place the seafarer could be a throw-away commodity. Seafarers and their households pay the final word worth for the greed and non-compliance of ship house owners, enduring the inhuman penalties of a system that compromises their well-being, dignity and fundamental human rights. ITF inspectors do an unbelievable job in holding to account these shipowners that attempt to get away with treating seafarers like some type of modern-day slaves,” stated Trowsdale.
The ITF report confirmed that Panama, the world’s main flag state, had the very best variety of abandonments with 23 circumstances in 2023. Regardless of being the world’s second and third largest flag states, Liberia and the Marshall Islands weren’t among the many eight flag states with essentially the most abandonments in 2023.
