Despite the efforts of trade unions and NGOs, seafarer abandonment is on the rise
While some shipowners acting in good faith try to solve the problem as best they can, for others, crew abandonment is an organised practice. In this April 2019 photo, seafarers work on their ship.
(Sailors’ society/Andy Scaysbrook) Translated from French by Brandon Johnson
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While some shipowners acting in good faith try to solve the problem as best they can, for others, crew abandonment is an organised practice. In this April 2019 photo, seafarers work on their ship.
(Sailors’ society/Andy Scaysbrook)
“I didn’t think fate would be so hard on me.” Sahabaj Khan, an Indian seafarer, never imagined that he would find himself in a situation like this. He and three other seafarers spent nearly two years stuck on two ships owned by an Indian company, only a few kilometres from the port of Mumbai. They were without electricity and their ships crawled with roaches. “I bega
Seafarer Mohammad Aisha is going home thanks to ITF, ending four years on abandoned ship 22 Apr 2021 Press Release
Seafarer Mohammad Aisha is tonight boarding an airplane to return to his native Syria, ending a four-year battle where he was forced to live on an abandoned ship in the Suez Canal while the vessel waited to be sold.
Mr Aisha is free because the ITF offered to have one of its union representatives in Egypt take Mr Aisha’s place and become the legal guardian of the vessel.
Mr Aisha was the chief officer onboard the Bharani-flagged
MV Aman (IMO 9215517) for just two months before the vessel was detained by Egyptian authorities due to expired safety equipment certificates.
Seafarer Mohamed Aisha is going home thanks to ITF, ending four years on abandoned ship itfglobal.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from itfglobal.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last modified on Mon 19 Apr 2021 11.33 EDT
For two years Mohammad Aisha has been the lone resident of an abandoned container ship marooned off Egypt in the Gulf of Suez. If he needs to charge his phone, get drinking water or buy food, he has to row to shore, although he can only stay for two hours at most as the area is a restricted military zone. According to one doctor who examined him, the malnourished sailor has started to exhibit similar symptoms to prisoners held in poor conditions.
Aisha has been the custodian of the 4,000-tonne MV Aman, trapped onboard as a prolonged legal battle to sell the vessel and pay the crew plays out thousands of miles away. Less than 50 miles north, the crew of the Ever Given, now immersed in its own legal struggles, are hoping to avoid anything close to the same fate. On Sunday, representatives from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), an umbrella union that represents seafarers, boarded the ship to check on the crew’s wellbe