Behind every statistic is a tale of human suffering—unpaid wages, rotting food, and psychological torment. Seafarers are struggling to survive due to the ethical collapse of the maritime industry.

By Vaibhav Agrawal, first published in Frontier India, 2025-02-16

The silent tragedy that is unfolding across the world’s oceans poses a significant threat to the maritime industry. Seafarer abandonment, once a shadowy issue confined to the periphery of global trade, has now exploded into a full-fledged crisis. With around 3,133 cases reported in 2024, nearly double from the previous year, the numbers paint a grim picture of an industry teetering on ethical collapse.

However, these statistics only represent a small portion of the story. Behind each statistic is a story of human endurance, exploitation, and an industry caught between globalization’s relentless churn and regulatory inertia. Why is this happening? How did we get here? And, more importantly, what lies ahead?

The Anatomy of Abandonment

According to international maritime labor conventions, a crew is considered abandoned when shipowners fail to pay wages for two or more months, provide basic provisions, or simply cease communication. But for the thousands of seafarers left stranded each year, these are just cold legal definitions that fail to capture the horror of being marooned in a floating steel prison. Take the case of the cargo ship Sister 12, moored off the Yemeni coast. Media reports suggest that its crew has spent over a year without pay, living in inhumane conditions, water supplies dwindling, rotting food, and infestations of insects. When contacted by prominent publications, Friends Shipping, the Turkish-UAE company responsible for Sister 12, offered no substantial answers. And they are far from alone.

Friends Shipping is emblematic of a larger, systemic problem. Of the 22 vessels listed on its website, 19 have been flagged in abandonment cases. The company’s slogan, “We Make the World Smaller,” now carries a dark irony, trapping seafarers in legal limbo, far from home, with no lifeline.

Who are the key culprits? Shady shipping companies operating on the periphery of legality. Many of these firms register their vessels under “flags of convenience” jurisdictions, which provide minimal oversight and low costs in exchange for disregarding ethical violations. The worst offenders include Panama, Palau, and Tanzania, whose flags are frequently associated with vessels reported as abandoned in 2024.

Ghost Ships of the Past

The problem of maritime abandonment isn’t new. The issue bears eerie similarities to the 18th and 19th centuries when unscrupulous shipowners abandoned entire crews. Back then, crew members often mutinied or became pirates out of desperation. Today, piracy has been replaced by bureaucratic obscurity, flags of convenience, shell companies, and shadowy owners operating with impunity.

The situation echoes another era of exploitation: the 19th-century indentured labor system, where workers were bound to endless contracts, unable to leave or claim their dues. Today’s abandoned seafarers face a similar fate, stuck between unresponsive authorities and a labyrinth of corporate opacity.

Despite international treaties like the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which mandates insurance coverage for unpaid wages and repatriation costs, enforcement remains weak. Many flag states fail to act, allowing unscrupulous owners to escape accountability. Even when authorities intervene, legal loopholes and jurisdictional wrangling prolong the suffering of abandoned crews.

For instance, Captain Tarek, a vessel abandoned in Yemen, fled without clearance and later resurfaced in Sudan, where it was finally detained. The vessel had no flag, no insurance, and no known owner. Authorities and registries remained silent when approached. The ship’s ownership remains a mystery, illustrating how the murky world of shell companies shields perpetrators from liability.

Human Desperation & Voices from Aboard

For the seafarers themselves, abandonment is not just about unpaid wages; it is a psychological and physical ordeal. Many crews must survive by drinking seawater, living without electricity, and bartering whatever remains.

Consider Abdul Razzaq Abdul Khaliq, a Syrian sailor aboard Sister 12. “There is no food on the ship, no water, no life,” he wrote to journalists, sharing images of brown, undrinkable water spewing from rusted pipes. His story is one of thousands.

Others, like the crew of the Malahakal, faced an even darker fate. One Indian seafarer, trapped in the UAE without pay for 15 months, reached a critical point and threatened suicide. The ship’s owner, who had no registered company or offices, initially offered him just $200 to walk away. After intense negotiations, they raised the amount to $7,500, a mere $500 per month, to compensate for over a year of suffering.