BBC News, Delhi
BBCManas Kumar* has been left on a cargo ship in Ukrainian water since April.
The Indian Seemain was part of a crew from Moldova to Turkey 14 transport was part of a crew from popcorn when the ship was raided on 18 April, as it made its way under the Danube River that divides Ukraine and Romania.
Ukraine claimed that the vessel, Anaka, was part of the “shadow” fleet of Russia, which said that the third countries were being used to sell Ukrainian grains “loot”.
But Mr. Kumar, who is the chief officer of Anaka, said that the vessel was running under the flag of Tanzania and was managed by a Turkish company.
But in fact the ship owner is not clear from the papers provided by the crew, which is made up of five other Indian citizens, as well as two Azerbaijanis and six Egyptians.
Mr. Kumar said that all are still five months later – Ukrainian authorities despite informing them that they were free to leave because they were not under investigation.
According to a joint database of abandoned vessels created by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the problem means that the crew lost its salary – by June, all the amount up to $ 102,828 together.
The BBC has reached the ship’s details provided by the ship’s management and owners.
Mr. Kumar says that the crew was not aware of the ship’s past while taking the job. Now trapped in a position beyond his control, the crew wants a quick resolution.
He says that the owner and the Indian shipping officer keep asking us another day to resolve the crisis, but nothing has happened yet.
“This is a war zone. We want us to return home quickly,” he told the BBC.
India is the second largest supplier of sailors and crews of commercial ships globally.
But it is also at the top of the list of members of the crew, known as “abandoned ciphers” – a word used by the 2006 maritime labor conference to describe the situation when the ship owners belong to the crew and fail to provide them for repatriation, regular provisions and wages.
According to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), which represents cifters globally, 312 ships in 2024 had 3,133 abandoned sailors – out of which Indian citizens calculated 899.
For many people, it is not possible to leave the ship without salary – especially if they have already paid huge amount to agents to take off the job or to get a training certificate, a former separ Mohammad Ghulam Ansari, a former separ Mohammad Ghulam Ansari, who helps to return the Indian crew from other parts of the world, tells the BBC.
The most important reason for abandonment is that according to the ITF, the widespread practice of registering ships – the flags of features are called – the countries where there are weak shipping rules.
International maritime rules allow a ship to register or flagged into the country separate from their owners.
The ITF website states, “A country can charge a ship registry and ship owners, while the crew can reduce standards for safety and welfare and often fail to live a real flag state responsibilities.”
This system, the group, says, also obscure the identity of the real owner, which helps suspected owners in ply ships.
ITF data suggests that in 2024, about 90% of abandoned vessels were dispatched under a flag of convenience.
Industry observers say that the global nature of the shipping industry also produces complications due to the global nature of the shipping industry.
On 9 January 2025, Captain Amitabh Chaudhary* was steering a cargo vessel from Iraq to the United Arab Emirates, when bad weather forced him to make a little round.
After minutes, the Tanzania-Flagged stratos vessel dropped the rocks down and damaged its oil-filled tank, forcing an unplanned stall near the Jubel port in Saudi Arabia.
The crew – including nine Indians and an Iraqi – made several attempts to swim it again but failed.
Got stuck, they waited for help for about six months before reflecting the ship.
Meanwhile, the owner of the ship’s Iraqi refused to pay his salary, citing the damage caused by the Stald vessel, Mr. Chaudhary told the BBC.
The BBC reached the ship owners to respond to these allegations, but did not respond.
BBC/ITFCiphers often blame General (DG), the Directorate of Marine Regulatory, Shipping of India – who are tasked to verify the ships, their owners and credentials of the placement agencies – for the lux of stakeholders. DG Shipping did not respond to the request for comments.
Other, however, suggests that the crew also needs to be more vigilant.
“When you are hired, you get enough time to inform DG shipping [about any discrepancies in your contract]”Sushil Deurukhkar said, an ITF representative, who is working for the welfare of the CFPs.” Once you sign the papers, you get stuck and knock on every door for resolution. ,
Things can also be complicated for crew on Indian -owned ships working underwater for several reasons.
Captain Prabjit Singh was appointed on Nirvana, an Indian-owned, Kuracao-Flagged Oil Tanker, along with 22 other Indian crew members. It was recently sold to a new owner who wanted it disintegrated, and his salary was in dispute between new and old owners.
In early April, Mr. Singh was taking it to a port in the state of Gujarat in western India, when an Indian court, according to the ILO-Im Database, an Indian court ordered “seizure” for “non-paying of crew”.
Within days, the crew realized that he was released, Mr. Singh said. “We were without enough food and provisions. The ship had gone out of diesel and was completely in blackout,” Mr. Singh told the BBC. “We were forced to break and burn the ship’s wood to cook food.”
Performed in October 2024, Mr. Singh expected to lead a decent life with this job, and that is why leaving a ship without salary was not a viable option for him.
The crew may eventually disintegrate on 7 July after the court ordered by the court. According to the ILO-Emo database, the wage of the crew is unpaid despite the court order.
Back to the Gulf, the crew of Stratos said that their biggest fear was that the hole in the floor of the ship would sink it.
But immediate challenge, they found, was hungry.
“For the days, we had to eat only rice or potato because there was no supply,” Mr. Chaudhary told the BBC last week.
After about six months, the crew finally managed to swim back to the ship – but the accident damaged its hull, which caused it disqualified to the sail.
The crew is still on the ship that is waiting for their salary to be paid.
“We are still at the same place in the same situation. The mind has stopped working, what can’t think about what [more] We should do, “Mr. Chaudhary said.
“Can we get some help? We just want to go home and meet our loved ones.”
*Some names have been changed to protect identity
