Seafarer abandonment is an intentional abuse of seafarers’ human and labour rights and is a spiralling, systemic problem in the industry: record ship abandonment figures in 2025 marked the sixth year in a row of record-breaking abandonment, and a 31% year-on-year increase in abandonment.
A ship is classed as abandoned under the MLC if the shipowner fails to pay wages for two months or more, fails to repatriate seafarers, or has left seafarers without the necessary maintenance or support. Wage deprivation, abusive living and working conditions, and extreme restriction of movement are indicators of forced labour that may also be present in such cases. International rules requiring minimum skeleton crew to remain on board a ship for safety at sea complicate these cases.
The ITF leads the way in reporting and combatting seafarer abandonment, filing 98% of all abandonments reported in 2025, when 4,500 seafarers also contacted the ITF to request assistance with abandonment. The ITF worked tirelessly to resolve, to date, 163 cases of abandonment in 2025, returning USD16.5 million in unpaid wages to seafarers.
The Flags of Convenience system is central to the current abandonment crisis. Ships registered under FOC states dominate the abandonment lists, accounting for 82% of ships abandoned in 2025. These flag states routinely fail to enforce international obligations or pursue shipowners who dump their responsibilities at the first sign of financial trouble.