In 2024 the number of crew abandonment cases more than doubled compared to 2023 according to the International Maritime Organization. The IMO reports 310 cases of crew abandonment recorded last year, +118% compared to the previous year’s 142.
The number of cases of seafarers left on abandoned ships has risen dramatically since 2020, firstly due to the pandemic crisis, and secondly as a result of the increasing size of the dark fleet, i.e. vessels operating illegally or evading international controls, often for smuggling or transporting sanctioned cargo.
In comparison, the 2024 figure is almost 2,000% greater than the annual total recorded a decade earlier. In the first three-and-a-half months of 2024 alone, over a hundred cases were recorded, almost as many as the total number reported in 2023.
The IMO reports that last year the number of abandoned seafarers alarmingly exceeded the cases reported during the previous year.
“The rising tide of abandonment of seafarers,” said Steven Jones, founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index, “must be stemmed. Shipping’s good deeds are overshadowed by this abuse. Fake flags, dark fleets, and turmoil create a breeding ground for exploitation. This should serve as a red flag for our entire industry, and we need a system overhaul to protect seafarers and to hold abusers to account.”
According to Mr. Jones, the continuous increase in the number of crewmembers being left abandoned is unacceptable and is the consequence of an industry in which seafarers are increasingly regarded as disposable commodities. “Seafarers and their families pay the ultimate price for the greed and non-compliance of shipowners, enduring the inhuman consequences of a system that compromises their well-being, dignity and basic human rights.”
In the spotlight are the guidelines adopted by the ILO and IMO in late 2022, which set out the procedures states should adopt if a shipowner fails to fulfil its obligations to organize and cover the costs of repatriating seafarers, back pay and other contractual entitlements, as well as the provision of essential needs, including medical care. In these circumstances seafarers are then considered abandoned.
Although there are precise regulations for the sector, the number of cases of abandonment has risen considerably over the last two years, proving just how difficult it is to eradicate this phenomenon.
Translation by Giles Foster
