An Associated Press story shed new light on a growing problem: Shipowners going bankrupt in the aftermath of the disruption to trade caused by COVID-19 were increasingly abandoning their ships, leaving sailors for months or even years without wages, stuck aboard ships as they try to recoup pay.
At the center of story was Abdul Nasser Saleh, a Syrian-born seafarer in his 60s who spent nearly a decade trapped on a deteriorating ship moored in Middle East ports, fighting to collect years of unpaid wages. Only after the AP started asking questions of authorities was Saleh given a deal that provided backpay and permitted him to return to his family.
AP reporters Helen Wieffering and Josh Goodman delved into the hardship borne by thousands of workers like Saleh who depend on their salaries to support loved ones back home. Saleh was stranded for more than nine years in Sudan and Saudi Arabia as his employer’s company went bankrupt. AP’s story also featured a Filipino fishing crew fighting for wages from an American tuna company near Seattle, and a Ukrainian ship captain whose crew was abandoned in Florida. They were just a handful of the more than 2,000 workers forced into similar conditions that year. “I can’t tell day from night anymore,” Saleh told AP as his monotonous situation on board entered its tenth year. He lost sleep over whether his children had enough to eat.
AP’s team learned that like Saleh, many sailors are promised by shipowners they will be paid soon, if only they wait – a situation that keeps workers in constant limbo amid cramped, deteriorating quarters. Despite the discomfort and distance from home, staying on board is often the only leverage sailors have to make sure their salary is eventually paid.
AP’s reporters also revealed how international legislation and consensus at the United Nations has failed to offer effective means to hold shipowners accountable. Nations are required by the Maritime Labor Convention to mandate that shipowners who register under their flag pay regular wages, but rarely enforce those rules or step in to resolve complaints from workers, AP’s story showed.
Nearly half of abandoned ships in 2023 lacked the required insurance to help cover wages for their crews, AP found. And data kept by advocates and the International Labor Organization show that some shipowners abandon crews repeatedly, exploiting unwitting workers for a period of months before ending their contract without pay, then bringing a new crew on board.
Within two weeks of the AP contacting Saudi Arabian authorities, Saleh received an offer from the shipping agent to pay him and he finally departed the aging vessel.
