The world’s largest seafaring nations have called on the International Maritime Organization to support a fund of last resort to support abandoned crew.
China, Indonesia and the Philippines presented the idea of a Seafarers Emergency Mutual Fund during the IMO’s legal committee meeting in late July in response to the rising number of crew abandonment cases.
Discussions are at an early stage, and the IMO has invited member states to share their views in the next legal committee meeting in March next year.
While a cross-border mechanism has been established under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) to protect abandoned seafarers, the countries say such a fund could serve as a last resort when all relevant stakeholders fail to act.
“The co-sponsors recommend exploring the possibility of establishing an emergency mutual fund for seafarers to pay the emergency costs … at the ports of member states in time,” they said in a filing obtained by TradeWinds.
“Expediting the resolution of seafarer abandonment cases will bring advantages, not only to the seafarers themselves, but also to shipping activities,” the countries said. “Vessels could resume normal operation and avoid additional loss.”
United Nations data show hundreds of seafarers have not received their wages on time since early 2020, with many shipowners struggling financially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The move has been broadly welcomed.
Bimco secretary general David Loosley, whose organisation represents shipowners, said the fund could be an “outside-the-box” solution.
“The rise in the number of abandoned seafarers … is alarming and the establishment of a Seafarers Emergency Mutual Fund is an initiative that is worth exploring,” Loosley said.
“The crew change crisis caused by uncoordinated and conflicting actions from governments during the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly not helped on the seafarer abandonment numbers.
“The crisis is far from over and we fear it will be a long time until it is. Now is a good time to think outside the box.”
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which represents seafarers’ unions, welcomes the IMO talks but refrained from backing the initiative.
“At present, we are reluctant to support the concept as we believe there are already adequate safeguards in the MLC to address abandonment,” the ITF said.
“However, we welcome the discussion and will participate constructively and with an open mind.”
The MLC’s 2014 amendments have required shipowners with vessels flagged in signatory countries to purchase insurance that covers the wages and repatriation costs of abandoned seafarers.
The mechanism's issues mainly lie with execution rather than design, the ITF suggested. “Where the system fails is the failure of flag, port and labour sending states to properly implement and adhere to the obligations of the MLC.
“In addition, they frequently respond too slowly to reported abandonments.”
Debates are expected over how large the fund should be, how it should operate, and who will contribute to it should the IMO advance the discussions further.
“There are many questions around what the fund would cover, given vessels should already have financial security to cover an abandonment situation,” the ITF said.
