Seafarer abandonment crisis: thousands left behind in shipping’s worst year on record in International Shipping News 04/02/2026 ITF data shows spiralling ship and seafarer abandonment at worst ever levels – Indian seafarers worst affected with more than 1,000 abandoned out of a total of more than 6,000 abandoned seafarers in 2026. Seafarer abandonment hit record levels in 2025, according to new data compiled by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), with 6,223 seafarers abandoned across 410 ships. Seafarer abandonment is in crisis, with the data marking the sixth year in a row that the number of vessels on which abandonments occurred has broken records and the fourth year in a row that the total number of seafarers abandoned has broken records: the numbers represent a 31% increase in such ship abandonments compared to 2024, and a 32% increase in seafarer abandonment. ITF data, which will be submitted in a report to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ahead of its discussion at a legal committee meeting this year, also shows that seafarers were owed a total of USD25.8 million in 2025 as a consequence of the abandonments. From this total, the ITF has recovered and returned USD16.5 million to seafarers. It’s nothing short of a disgrace that, yet again, we are seeing record numbers of seafarers abandoned by unscrupulous ship owners,” said David Heindel, Chair of the ITF Seafarers’ Section. “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.” Seafarer abandonment is defined by the IMO under three criteria: failing to cover the cost of a seafarer’s repatriation; leaving a seafarer without necessary maintenance and support; unilaterally severing ties with a seafarer, including failure to pay contractual wages for a period of at least two months. The IMO and the International Labour Organization (ILO) run a joint seafarer abandonment database: of 410 abandonments last year, the ITF reported 400 (98 percent). Seafarer nationalities, abandonment locations Indian seafarers were the worst affected national group in 2025, as in 2024, with 1,125 seafarers abandoned – at the end of 2025, the Indian Government announced that ‘blacklisting’ measures would be taken to protect seafarers from ships with a record of repeat abandonments and other bad practices. Filipino seafarers were the second worst affected, with 539 abandoned, followed by Syrians with 309 abandoned. The worst region for abandonment was the Middle East, followed by Europe. The two countries where most ship abandonments took place – the countries with the highest number of vessels on which abandonments occurred – both of which have significantly higher abandonments than any other country, were Türkiye (61) and the United Arab Emirates (54). Flags of Convenience Flag of Convenience (FOCs) vessels feature prominently in abandonment: 337 vessels abandoned in 2025 – 82% of the total – were flying FOC flags. The ITF estimates that around 30% of the entire 100,000-strong global fleet of merchant vessels fly FOCs. As in 2024, Panama, an FOC, remains the Flag State with the most abandonments (68, up from 43), while the nu