Seafarer abandonment has reached its highest level on record, with new figures from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) revealing a sharp rise in both the number of ships involved and the number of seafarers affected.
According to ITF data, 6,223 seafarers were abandoned across 410 vessels in 2025, marking the worst year ever recorded for abandonment cases. The figures represent a 31% increase in ship abandonments and a 32% rise in abandoned seafarers compared with 2024.
This is the sixth consecutive year in which the number of vessels involved in abandonment cases has reached a new high, and the fourth year in a row in which the total number of seafarers abandoned has broken previous records.
Indian seafarers were the worst affected, accounting for more than 1,100 of those abandoned in 2025. This follows a similar pattern to 2024 and has prompted action from the Indian government, which announced blacklisting measures at the end of the year to protect seafarers from vessels with a history of repeated abandonments and other poor practices.
Filipino seafarers were the second most affected (539 abandoned) followed by Syrian seafarers (309).
Regionally, the Middle East was identified as the worst area for abandonment, followed by Europe. Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates recorded the highest number of vessels involved in abandonment cases, with 61 and 54 respectively.
The ITF data, which will be submitted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ahead of a legal committee meeting later this year, also shows that abandoned seafarers were owed US$25.8 million in unpaid wages and entitlements during 2025. The ITF reports that it has so far recovered US$16.5 million of this sum and returned it to affected seafarers.
David Heindel, chair of the ITF Seafarers' Section, described the situation as 'nothing short of a disgrace'.
'Every day, all around the world, seafarers face horrific violations of their human and labour rights, all so that bottom-feeding companies can make a quick buck at their expense. It's very clear that this is a systemic issue in the industry – and that means we need the entire industry to come together with seafarers and their unions to say, "enough is enough"’, and take action together to end this crisis.'
Under IMO definitions, a seafarer is considered abandoned if a shipowner fails to cover repatriation costs, leaves a seafarer without maintenance and support, or unilaterally severs ties with the seafarer, including failing to pay wages for at least two months. Of the 410 abandonment cases recorded last year, the ITF reported 400, representing 98% of all cases logged in the joint IMO-ILO abandonment database.
Flags of Convenience (FOCs) continue to feature heavily in abandonment cases. In 2025, 337 vessels – 82% of the total – were flying FOC flags, despite such flags accounting for an estimated 30% of the global merchant fleet. Panama remained the flag state with the highest number of abandonments, while cases involving vessels with unknown flags more than doubled.
The ITF is calling for the following steps to be taken to tackle seafarer abandonment:
- Flag states to be compelled to log a ship’s beneficial owner, including contact details, as a pre-condition for registration
- National blacklisting of ships to protect seafarers from ships with repeated involvement in abandonment cases, following the lead of India's DG Shipping
- Government investigations into the use of flags of convenience, as is currently underway in the USA
At a press briefing on 23 January, IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez expressed his concerns about the increase in seafarer abandonments and highlighted this as one of his priorities for the coming year. 'Even one abandonment is one too many,' he stressed.
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