The trend in seafarer abandonment is clearly escalating. From an already catastrophic record in 2024, the situation continues to deteriorate in 2025—both in scale and severity. Key regions, flags of convenience, and weak enforcement remain persistent contributors to the crisis. 2024 marked a grim milestone, becoming the worst year on record for seafarer abandonment:
3,133 seafarers were abandoned onboard 312 vessels, an 87% increase from 1,676 seafarers and 132 vessels in 2023.
Unpaid wages totalled over $20 million, with only about half recovered.
Barry talks about the risks, reasons, laws and enforcement surrounding these disappointing numbers. With MLC in place the situation should be improving - Barry discusses why sadly this is not the case.
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