Fleet of abandoned ships is growing, leaving more sailors stuck at sea

More ships than ever are being abandoned around the world by their owners, according to the United Nations' labor and maritime organizations, leaving thousands of workers stuck on board without pay or the means to travel home to their families.

Cases have doubled in the past three years, impacting more than 3,000 seafarers across some 230 ships in 2024, according to an Associated Press analysis of U.N. data. Last year's figures could rise even further given the time that can elapse before vulnerable, frustrated workers reach out to report their plight.

By international guidelines, workers are considered abandoned if shipowners fail to pay two or more months of wages, provide basic supplies or otherwise stop communicating with the crew.

''The only leverage seafarers have sometimes is to stay on a vessel until they get paid,'' said Helen Meldrum, a ship inspector with the International Transport Workers' Federation, which advocates for ship workers' rights.

It's a phenomenon rarely visible from shore, and one hitting hardest the smaller shipping companies servicing less profitable trade routes. Many crews reporting a lack of pay are on corroded ships built decades ago. The top countries for cases last year were the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The worst cases have seen entire crews suffering weeks without adequate food or fresh water, or living on dark ships without electricity. Some workers languish on board for years, such as Abdul Nasser Saleh, whom the Associated Press profiled last year in a story exploring abandonment in U.S. ports and abroad.

The AP found that shipowners often stopped paying workers when their costs skyrocketed or business dried up. Owners commonly left ships docked in ports where crews lacked immigration paperwork to step foot on land or at anchorages only reachable by boat.

The number of abandonment cases in 2024 surpassed the earlier record set in 2023.

Governments and organizations like Meldrum's can report abandoned ships to the U.N., which verifies the basic facts and petitions the owner and relevant authorities to find a resolution.

Meldrum has recently been appealing to authorities for help getting proper food, fuel and back-pay for crews on three cargo ships run by a company called Friends Shipping. Workers on board the Sister 12, now moored off the coast of Yemen, have been confined to the ship for more than a year without receiving a paycheck, according to her review.

''They're essentially imprisoned on these vessels,'' Meldrum said. ''It goes way beyond exploitation.''

Abdul Razzaq Abdul Khaliq, a Syrian sailor on board the Sister 12, wrote to AP over WhatsApp that the ship was full of insects and the crew had to use seawater for bathing. Photos and videos he shared show the faucets spewing cloudy brown water, rust blanketing the deck and only a few rotting pieces of produce in the pantry.

''(T)here is no food on the ship, there is no water, there is no life," he wrote.

Friends Shipping, which has offices in Turkey and Dubai, has a pattern of abandonment linked to its fleet. Nineteen of the 22 ships listed on its website have been named in abandonment cases, according to U.N. data, though some of those ships may have since been sold. The company boasts a slogan of ''We Make the World Smaller.''

Meldrum said Friends Shipping hires workers who are unaware of the company's reputation, then leaves them in such dire conditions that many are willing to go home at the first chance — even without pay. A new crew will be staffed and the same thing happens, she said.

Friends Shipping didn't respond to AP's questions about abandonment on their fleet or the welfare of their crews. A person who responded to messages sent to the company's WhatsApp number in Turkey said that provisions were supplied to the crew on the Sister 12 and all workers on the ship would be disembarked, without providing details.

Despite global treaties on labor rights, there are few avenues for holding owners accountable in an industry where ships are often registered under nondescript shell companies and fly the flags of countries unrelated to their operations.

Flag registries are expected to act as first responders to help repatriate seafarers and ensure they have food and medical care, according to U.N. guidelines. A decade-old amendment to the Maritime Labor Convention signed by more than 90 nations also requires the flag states to vouch for the ships they register by requiring insurance to cover several months of wages if business goes south.

AP's reporting found many flag states still don't intervene. Panama, Palau and Tanzania each registered dozens of the ships reported as abandoned in 2024.

The yearslong rise in abandonment cases could mean more seafarers are becoming willing to report abuse by their employers, but the overall figures likely underestimate the true picture of worker exploitation at sea. Cases first spiked amid the global pandemic and have kept rising as shipowners are pinched by inflation and other rising costs.

The ITF, the group that advocates for workers, said it helped workers recover more than $10 million in back-pay last year. Inspectors were still fighting for another $10 million they say is owed.

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Associated Press reporter Aaron Kessler contributed to this report.

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This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Contact AP's global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/