Back in 2016, 20 ships were abandoned around the world, according to the ITF. In 2025 the number had ballooned to 410, with 6,223 merchant seamen falling victim. Both of those figures for last year were up by almost a third on 2024.
Geopolitical instability is said to have been a driving factor of the increase in recent years. Widespread conflicts around the world and the Covid pandemic have triggered supply chain disruption and wild variation in freight costs, meaning some operators are struggling to stay afloat.
But the ITF says the growing prevalence of so-called "shadow fleets" could be contributing to the big spike last year.
These ships, typically oil tankers such as the one Ivan is stuck on, are more often ageing vessels of obscure ownership, unseaworthy, likely uninsured, and operationally hazardous. And they typically sail under flags of convenience or FOCs - the ships are registered in countries with very limited regulatory oversight.
The shadow fleet vessels are trying to stay under the radar to help countries such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela export their crude in contravention of Western sanctions.
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Last year abandoned merchant navy crews around the world were owed a total of $25.8m, according to data from two UN agencies, the IMO, and the International Labour Organization.
The ITF claims they have recovered and returned nearly two thirds of this, $16.5m. The wage arrears on Ivan's ship were in the region of $175,000 at the time of the ITF's initial involvement.
The most affected nationality for maritime abandonment in 2025 were Indian sailors, accounting for 1,125, or 18% of the total. Filipinos (539) and Syrians (309) come second and third.
In September last year, to protect its important seafaring community, the Indian government blacklisted 86 foreign vessels over seafarer abandonment and rights-violation issues. Investigations found many of them had untraceable owners or no response from flag states.
From the article:
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