Currently in the world there are 158 ships abandoned by their owners or their owners, with a clear increase compared to to the 119 ships abandoned a year ago. Naval units to date have led 1,501 seafarers to turn to the union International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) to receive assistance, many of whom have been left without salary, without Food, water or access to ports, often for months.

"The abandonment - denounced the secretary general of the ITF, Stephen Cotton - is a growing and systemic. Behind every number there is a human being who is betrayed by the industry and the governments responsible for its regulation. The fact that we are on the way to beating the last year's terrible record is a sign that it is An urgent reform is needed".

The ITF has announced that in 2024 the union and its network Global inspectors recovered over $58.1 million of unpaid wages for seafarers working on flying ships flags of convenience, of which $13.5 million was returned to the abandoned seafarers. In the first months of 2025, the inspectors helped to recover USD 4.1 million for the abandoned seafarers. However, as the number of cases increases, The trade union federation stressed that it is increasingly concerned about the limits of the application of the rules. "We have to do - explained Steve Trowsdale, head of of the ITF Inspectorate - with shipowners who evade the obligations, often under the eyes of non-compliant registers that do not intervene. In many cases, it is impossible to identify the shipowner and flag States are unwilling or unable to intervene. This is what makes the increase in Cases so dangerous: impunity is growing for everyone the levels".

"Maritime transport - recalled Cotton - is the engine of global trade, yet its workers are treated as expendable. We must - he said - denounce and reform the system of flags of convenience. Every ship must flying a flag that can demonstrate a transparent and traceable with its actual owner, and the authorities must be ready, and willing, to retain and sanction those who stray from their crews. Only through this authentic bond and a rigorous application of the we will be able to eradicate the scourge of abandonment and build the a safe and fair sector that seafarers deserve".