Seafarer abandonment hit record levels in 2025, according to new data compiled by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), with 6223 seafarers abandoned across 410 ships. Indian seafarers were worst affected with more than 1000 abandoned.
The data marks the sixth year in a row that the number of vessels on which abandonments occurred has broken records and the fourth year in a row that the total number of seafarers abandoned has broken records: the numbers represent a 31 per cent increase in such ship abandonments compared to 2024, and a 32 per cent increase in seafarer abandonment.
ITF data, which will be submitted in a report to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ahead of its discussion at a legal committee meeting this year, also shows that seafarers were owed a total of USD 25.8 million in 2025 as a consequence of the abandonments. From this total, the ITF has recovered and returned USD 16.5 million to seafarers.
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Systemic issue and accountability key
ITF Seafarers’ Section Chair David Heindel described the situation as “a systemic issue”, calling for industry-wide action to end the crisis. ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton stressed that accountability is key, urging stronger powers for the International Maritime Organization to address abandonment.
Seafarer abandonment is defined by the IMO under three criteria: failing to cover the cost of a seafarer’s repatriation; leaving a seafarer without necessary maintenance and support; unilaterally severing ties with a seafarer, including failure to pay contractual wages for a period of at least two months. The IMO and the International Labour Organization (ILO) run a joint seafarer abandonment database: of 410 abandonments last year, the ITF reported 400 (98 per cent).
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Seafarer nationalities, abandonment locations
Indian seafarers were the worst affected, as in 2024, with 1125 abandoned, followed by Filipino (539) and Syrian (309) crew members. At the end of 2025, the Indian Government announced that “blacklisting” measures would be taken to protect seafarers from ships with a record of repeat abandonments and other bad practices.
The Middle East was the worst region for abandonment, followed by Europe. Türkiye (61 vessels) and the United Arab Emirates (54) recorded the highest number of abandoned ships. Flag-of-convenience vessels accounted for 82 per cent of all cases, with Panama remaining the flag state with the most abandonments (68, up from 43). The number of abandonments under an unknown flag have more than doubled (46, up from twenty).
Recommended measures
The ITF is calling for the following steps to be taken to tackle seafarer abandonment:
- Flag states to be compelled to log a ship’s beneficial owner, including contact details, as a pre-condition for registration.
- National blacklisting of ships to protect seafarers from ships with repeated involvement in abandonment cases, following the lead of India’s DG Shipping.
- Government investigations into the use of FOCs, as is currently underway in the USA.
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Case study: Eleen Armonia
Four Indian seafarers have been stranded aboard the Eleen Armonia off Nigeria since June without pay. The ITF declared the vessel abandoned in August 2025, yet the crew has not been repatriated by shipowner Eleen Marine, despite expired contracts and other crew members being allowed to return home.
‘We ask every month to be paid and sent home, but nothing happens,’ one seafarer told the ITF.
An ITF report earlier in 2025 linked Eleen Marine to the Slovenia-registered “International Seafarers’ Union” (ISU), described as a sham union operating alongside anti-union services provider Lanibra. Agreements with ISU-Lanibra reportedly expired in June and were not renewed.
Picture by Laurahayes7751, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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