23 April 2024 (Lloyd's List) - THE International Maritime Organization has been urged to do more to crack down on fraudulent seafarer recruitment with schemes likened to “human trafficking”.

The packed Legal Committee meeting in London on Tuesday heard of seafarers agreeing to work on one ship then being moved to another, often for worse pay and under unacceptable conditions.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation said seafarers risked being made criminals if they were placed on such ships. They also faced a higher risk of abandonment.

“We have also seen threats to both seafarers and their families,” the ITF said, as well as indications of human trafficking.

Such mistreatment could deter seafarers from the profession, the seafarers’ union added.

Member states said there was an “undisputable need” to prevent unlawful and fraudulent practices.

The Philippines, a major supplier of seafarers, said recruitment increasingly happens online or through social media. But this was considered illegal under local rules, creating challenges in policing recruitment agencies.

Canada, speaking as chair of the LEG Committee, called it a “very disturbing situation”.

It said the matter should be sent to the joint tripartite working group with the IMO’s sister UN agency the International Labour Organisation for further talks.

Seafarer rights fall under the Maritime Labour Convention and it is for the ILO to intervene, the committee chair said.

The spotlight on seafarer welfare comes amid an “alarming rise” in seafarer abandonment cases this year, as reported by Lloyd’s List on Monday.