Seafarers on IBF-covered ships can now refuse voyages through the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East Gulf after the threat level reached its highest category. The new arrangement includes repatriation rights, two months of basic wage compensation, higher pay in the zone, and doubled compensation in death or disability cases.
ITF data shows seafarer abandonment hit record levels in 2025: 6,223 seafarers across 410 ships, with $25.8 million owed and FOCs dominating cases.
Twelve fishers on the Portuguese-flagged Novo Ruivo have gone eight months without pay while stranded in Mindelo, Cape Verde, with $68,420 in wage arrears, prompting ITF action over C188 violations.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation has launched an independent investigation into allegations of a sexist “boys club” culture and workplace misconduct within the organisation.
