The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) inspectors recovered US$118,529,663 in wages owed to seafarers between 2020 and 2022, according to data released on World Maritime Day.
“While we are proud that our inspectors have been successful in recovering almost US$120 million for seafarers in the last three years, it’s unfortunate that we need to address wage underpayments at all. We would prefer to see all seafarers paid in full, and paid on time in the first place,” stated David Heindel, ITF Seafarers’ section chair and president of the Seafarers International Union.
ITF inspectors are officials who board ships to educate seafarers on their rights, detect violations of crew contracts, national laws, or international conventions, and then work with authorities to ensure that rights are implemented. Inspectors from the ITF work out of 111 ports in 56 countries.
In 2022, seafarers reported 2,199 violations of contract to the ITF, with nonpayment of salaries being the most widespread reason.
“For some seafarers, a shipowner might miss a pay date here or there, but others can go months without receiving their salaries. ITF inspectors, supported by our seafarer and docker union affiliates, are here to help crew stand up for their rights wherever they find themselves in need of support,” noted David Heindel.
Also, in the last year, ITF inspectors conducted 8,667 ship inspections across the world with 1,878 of these being in response to ITF calls, emails, or messages requesting assistance from seafarers.
An additional 3,771 inspections were carried out as part of the inspectors’ continuous system of routine and responsive inspections to ensure ships flagged to Flags of Convenience (FOC) registries and comply with the same international requirements as vessels flagged to national flags.
