Dubai tug operator stands accused of being the worst serial crew abandonment offender ever

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has hit out at what it claims is the worst case of serial seafarer abandonment ever seen.

Dubai’s Middle East Marine, an operator of tugs, stands accused of systematic abuse and neglect of over 100 seafarers. 

Since November 2022, the ITF has reported over 17 cases of crew abandonments across 18 Palauy-flagged vessels in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. 

Seafarers from India, Indonesia and Myanmar have been left in dire conditions including the provision of dirty drinking water, lack of food, withholding of passports and medication, refusing ill crew hospital visits, and unpaid wages.

One seafarer from Indonesia described how he and his peers had been forced to go fishing for survival while families back home have got into into serious debt.

Under international law – the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended – seafarers should be paid at least once per month. Crews owed two months or more of pay or who are not provided with sufficient food, water and fuel are considered to have been abandoned, which should trigger action by insurers and the ship’s flag state – the country where the ship is registered – in this case Palau. 

The ITF has not received a single response from the Palau maritime authorities despite the urgency of the situation seafarers and their families are facing. 

“Seafarers’ lives are not collateral for any company,” said Steve Trowsdale, ITF’s inspectorate coordinator. “We are extremely concerned about the welfare of the crews affected by Middle East Marine’s woeful business and the sheer scale of the abandonments. It’s hard to comprehend how a company registered in the UAE can behave like this with impunity. Middle East Marine is a stain on the global maritime industry.” 

“It’s been shocking to see seafarers facing such extreme exploitation, dangerous working conditions and limited rights. No pay, inadequate living conditions, lack of legal protections, and restricted freedom of movement – it’s akin to modern-day indentured servitude,” said Sandra Bernal, ITF’s network coordinator Asia Pacific region. 

Last year was a record one for crew abandonment cases with the International Maritime Organization reporting 142 new cases for 2023, up from the previous record of 109 reported the year before. The opening four months of 2024 suggest another dire year for abandonment is on the cards. 

“The rising tide of seafarer abandonment must be stemmed. Shipping’s good deeds are overshadowed by this abuse. Fake flags, dark fleets, and turmoil create a breeding ground for exploitation. This should serve as a red flag for our entire industry, and we need a system overhaul to protect seafarers and to hold abusers to account,” Steven Jones, the founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index, told Splash last month.

With the scars from the extended period at sea brought about by the covid pandemic still fresh in the memory combined with today’s Red Sea shipping crisis, the return of Somali piracy, and the remarkable statistic that as many as one on eight ships trading today do not provide internet access to crew, the shipping industry is having to face up to the fact a crewing crisis is brewing. 

“The seafarer labour market has become particularly tight, with important implications for recruitment and retention as well as manning costs,” UK consultancy Drewry noted in a recent study while crewing specialist Danica’s latest seafarer survey pointed to a general shortage of very competent seafarers.

Ian Beveridge, the CEO of Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), told Splash: “The allure of a maritime career has diminished in many traditional seafaring countries, leading to challenges for maritime academies in filling their classes.”