abandonment

In the worst case of serial seafarer abandonment ever seen, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) condemns Middle East Marine LLC for its systematic abuse and neglect of over 100 seafarers.  

Today, the ITF is calling on the United Arab Emirates Government and the Palau maritime authorities to act to end seafarers’ suffering and uphold international maritime and human rights law. 

28 February 2024, London 

Seafarers are struggling to survive after being abandoned by a Saudi Arabian company across multiple vessels – registered in Bahrain. 

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has launched a new online index to tackle the exploitation and abuse of workers at sea.

The Seafarers' Breach of Rights Index lists companies and individuals that deny and abuse seafarers’ basic human and trade union rights – including not paying wages, failing to provide essentials including food and water, and abandoning them at sea in unsafe conditions.

19 January 2024, London – The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has today released its figures for the numbers of vessels abandoned in 2023 – which show a worrying increase on figures from the previous year.

Thirteen Filipino seafarers have made it home after more than five months aboard an abandoned livestock carrier ship, the Yangtze Harmony, thanks to the intervention of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).  

The ship’s owners abandoned the vessel and its crew after the ship was arrested in October 2022 in Singapore over an unpaid fuel bill. That is when the shipowner also stopped paying the entire crew, leaving them without wages or a way to get home. By April, the crew were owed a massive USD $429,972. 

Thirteen Filipino seafarers have made it home after more than five months aboard an abandoned livestock carrier ship, the Yangtze Harmony, thanks to the intervention of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).  

The ship’s owners abandoned the vessel and its crew after the ship was arrested in October 2022 in Singapore over an unpaid fuel bill. That is when the shipowner also stopped paying the entire crew, leaving them without wages or a way to get home. By April, the crew were owed a massive USD $429,972. 

Seafarers stranded aboard a livestock carrier vessel abandoned off the Australian coast have finally been repaid their missing wages and repatriated home with the assistance of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).

Four seafarers, with assistance from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), have seized a cargo ship off the port of Dakar in Senegal after months without pay and mounting danger to their lives.

Last year, union ship inspectors recovered more than USD $37 million in unpaid wages owed to seafarers, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has revealed in figures published today. 

The ITF’s 125 inspectors and coordinators completed 7,265 inspections in 2021 to support thousands of seafarers with wage claims and repatriation cases, despite Covid-19 restrictions preventing inspectors’ ability to board ships for much of the year.

A Philippines-based recruitment agency that unlawfully charged seafarers placement fees has had its licence suspended after the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) highlighted its illegal practices.