Indian recruiters are failing to raise the alarm about seafarers they have placed being abandoned and arrested at foreign ports, according to shipping officials.
“Deceitful practices” during the recruitment process have led to seafarers being stranded, particularly in Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, India’s directorate general of shipping said in a circular.
The directorate did not detail the practices but Indian officials in March said they had logged more than 200 cases since 2020 of seafarers being placed on ships they were not signed up to.
Recruiters are required to ensure that a shipowner has funds in place to prevent seafarers from being stranded, or to make arrangements for their repatriation if they are stuck in foreign ports, according to the latest circular.
But the directorate said that the recruiters were failing to alert the authorities within 24 hours of any problems or were supplying incomplete documents that hampered efforts to get them freed.
“Indian seafarers are found stranded or abandoned without their wages being settled and lacking essential provisions such as fresh water and basic necessities on board the vessel, exacerbating their plight and endangering their health and safety,” it said.
The failures have prompted the directorate to demand that all recruiters send in details of seafarers working in Iran, the UAE and Malaysia. Details requested on the form include a photo, family contacts and details of the ship the seafarer is due to work on.
The directorate warned that it would be “compelled to take appropriate and stringent action” against recruiters if they failed to fill out the forms.
Studies suggest that Indian seafarers are already at particular risk from scams before going to sea, including paying illegal recruitment fees to secure work.
India told the International Maritime Organization in March that recruiters were making promises to seafarers about facilities on board a vessel only to find they ended up on a different ship where the conditions were much worse.
“In many of these cases, the seafarers are not only victims of abandonment or stranding but they are also reported to be missing or dead,” India said in a submission to the global regulator.
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