Abandonment at sea can happen for a number of different reasons and is often a calculated economic decision by a ship owner facing bankruptcy, insolvency or the arrest of a vessel by creditors.
In many cases, vessels are abandoned after they are deemed unseaworthy and detained by port state control inspectors.
Abandonment Insights
SRI Applauds New Measures to Address Abandonment
SRI, the international pan-industry body researching maritime and seafarers’ law, has applauded the decision by the first meeting of a joint International Labour Organization (ILO) – International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tripartite Working Group to adopt new measures which improve conditions for seafarers who have been abandoned. Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of SRI says: “We welcome these new Guidelines in the hope that they will reverse[Read More…]
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First Meeting of the Joint ILO-IMO Tripartite Working Group to identify and address seafarers’ issues and the human element, 13 – 15 December 2022
Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of SRI attended the first meeting of the newly created Tripartite Working group, which met between 13 to 15 December 2022 to discuss and adopt guidelines for port State and flag State authorities on how to deal with seafarer abandonment cases.
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Joint ILO-IMO meeting adopts guidelines on seafarer abandonment
New measures to improve conditions for seafarers, including those who have been abandoned, have been adopted at a meeting involving governments and maritime workers and employers’ organisations. Guidelines on how to deal with seafarer abandonment have been adopted by the first meeting of a joint International Labour Organization (ILO)–International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tripartite Working Group. The Guidelines seek to address the significant rise in cases[Read More…]
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What the industry is doing
The lack of a framework to adequately protect abandoned seafarers has been frustrating – but positive change is happening. Amendments to the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC,2006) specifically related to abandonment received overwhelming support from 61 ILO Member States who represent more than 80 percent of the world’s global shipping tonnage. Corrine Vargha, Director, International Labour Standards Department, ILO says, “The MLC overlooked a[Read More…]
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Top ten warning signs
When a crew on a merchant ship is abandoned in a foreign port, a familiar pattern of events often unfolds: Fuel for generators runs out. Salaries stop being paid. Shore leave is denied. Food and water stops being supplied. Services provided to the ship go unpaid. Often the ship owner cannot be traced or remains in the background. Sometimes the shipowner threatens the crew, or[Read More…]
Read MoreSRI Video – Abandonment of Seafarers
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