New figures released by the ITF reveal that vessel abandonments have surged nearly 33% year on year.
By May this year, 158 cases of vessel abandonment had been recorded, up from 119 at the same point in 2024.
These cases represent more than 1,501 seafarers who have reached out to the ITF for assistance, many of whom were left unpaid, without food, water or access to ports, often for months at a time.
“Abandonment is a growing, systemic problem,” said Stephen Cotton, ITF General Secretary. “Behind every number is a human being who has been failed by the industry and the governments responsible for regulating it. The fact that we're on track to break last year’s appalling record is a sign that urgent reform is needed.”
Millions recovered, but the human cost is growing
In 2024, the ITF and its global network of inspectors recovered more than $58.1 million in unpaid wages for seafarers working on ships running ‘Flag of Convenience’ (FOC) registries that offer minimal oversight and have become a haven for exploitative shipping practices. Of that total, $13.5 million was returned to abandoned seafarers alone.
Already in 2025, ITF inspectors have helped recover $4.1 million for seafarers affected by abandonment. But as the number of cases climb, the Federation says it is increasingly concerned by the limits of enforcement.
“We’re dealing with owners who walk away from their obligations, often while sub-standard registers look on and do nothing,” said Steve Trowsdale, Head of the ITF Inspectorate. “In many cases, it's impossible to identify the owner, and flag states are either unwilling or unable to act. This is what makes the rise in cases so dangerous – impunity is growing across the board.”
Flags of Convenience: a scourge of the maritime industry
In response to growing concerns, the ITF has added Tuvalu and Guinea Bissau to its longstanding FOC list, bringing the total number of countries on the list to 45. Both countries are linked to so-called “shadow fleets” transporting sanctioned oil and evading regulatory scrutiny.
FOC states allow shipowners to register vessels in jurisdictions that offer minimal taxes, low labour standards, and secrecy over ownership – this means that seafarers on FOC ships face low wages, long hours and unsafe working conditions. Today, more than 50% of the world fleet is registered in FOC states, with more than 80% of abandoned vessels also registered to FOCs. The system has enabled unscrupulous actors to profit while leaving seafarers vulnerable to exploitation.
“Shipping is the engine of global trade, yet its workers are treated as disposable,” said Cotton. “We must expose and reform the FOC system. Every vessel must carry a flag that can prove a transparent, traceable link to its true beneficial owner, and regulators must be armed – and willing – to detain and penalise those who walk away from their crews.
"Only through that genuine link and robust enforcement will we eradicate the scourge of abandonment and build the safe, fair industry seafarers deserve.”
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Notes
- The ITF’s Flags of Convenience list can be found here. For more information on the ITF's campaign on this issue – first launched in Oslo in 1948 – see here.
- At the end of 2024, Tonga was removed from the list, with Gabon and Eswatini added.
- At the end of 2023, Cambodia was removed from the FOC list, with San Marino added.
- Under international law, ships must be registered with a single country, even though they often operate in international waters. The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea states that there must be a “genuine link” between the ship and the flag state. In reality, genuine links between ships and flags often fail to exist.
- A Flag of Convenience vessel is one that flies the flag of a country other than the country of ownership, at the same time adopting the regulations set down by that flag. The origins of the system lie in the United America Line using the Panama flag to circumvent prohibition in the 1920s.
- Flags of Convenience offer countries without their own shipping industry a way to make easy money. The country can set up ship a registry and charge fees to shipowners, while having reduced standards for crew safety and welfare, and often failing to live up to the responsibilities of a genuine flag state. The real ship owner (what the ITF calls the ‘beneficial owner’) benefits from having its identity hidden and adopting the often poor regulatory standards of the flag, which can also include no restriction on the nationality of a crew. In many cases, these flags are not even run from the country concerned.
