UAE: Middle East Marine allegedly "systematically abused & neglected" over 100 seafarers, says Intl. Transport Workers' Federation; incl. co. non-response
Seafarers’ lives are not collateral for any company…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.Steve Trowsdale, ITF's Inspectorate Coordinator
In May 2024, the International Transport Workers' Federation released a press release describing the “worst case of … seafarer abandonment” it had ever seen. The press release alleges UAE-based company, Middle East Marine, had systematically abused and neglected over 100 seafarers.
Seafarers are considered to be abandoned if they are owed two months or more pay, or have not been provided with enough food, water or fuel.
My salary hasn’t been paid for more than three months – but there are some crew members unpaid for as long as seven months. The company did not supply provisions and fresh water – sometimes we were just fishing for survival. All crew members are getting depressed, and our families are getting in debt to survive.Indonesian Seafarer
The ITF has reported over 17 abandonments since November 2022, in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Impacted workers are from India, Indonesia and Myanmar.
In May, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre invited Middle East Marine to respond to the article, and to outline what steps it has or will take to investigate and remedy the workers for the abuses reported. Middle East Marine did not respond.