Abandoned Pinoy sailors soar

The number of abandoned ships per year worldwide has consistently been increasing — 43 in 2019, to 55 in 2020, to almost double at 95 in 2021, to 118 in 2022, to 132 in 2023, to a sudden alarming spike of 312 in 2024. (Source: International Transport Workers Federation [ITF])

There are many factors for the consistent demise of merchant ships — lack of maintenance funds resulting in total disrepair; spiraling fuel costs inhibiting operations; disruption (real or potential) of shipping lanes, including the Panama Canal, which is reportedly starting to show cracks; supply chain problems, to name a few.

There are deeper issues in the domino principle, such as trade wars and geopolitical conflicts. In other words, the economics of international trade transport is slowly being degraded.

As a consequence of the abandonment of ships, their workforce, namely, the merchant marines and sailors, are also abandoned. The number of Filipino sailors abandoned at sea has ballooned lately — 100 in 2020, to more than triple at 310 in 2021, then a lower 155 in 2022, to a high of 273 in 2023, and also 273 in 2024. These erratic statistics hint at different complex social and economic factors.

At any given time, there are about half a million Pinoy sailors at sea worldwide, the largest single deployment from one country. A total of 3,133 merchant marines sent distress calls to the ITF in 2024, of whom 273 were Pinoys, who were consistently in the top five of the most abandoned nationalities in the last five years.

“Abandoned” is defined as either: 1) no wages for two months; 2) no maintenance and support; 3) no funds for repatriation; and/or 4) no options but to stay put.

A Filipino sailor interviewed by Rappler said that at the peak of the pandemic in 2020, his ship was drifting off the Sharjah coast in the UAE for six whole months under radio silence. The crew had to fish for its food.

“When the vessel would die, there wouldn’t be electricity and potable water.” In spite of being safe from the coronavirus, since they had no outside contact, they were abandoned by the ship owners, subjected to inhuman conditions.

Pinoy sailors worldwide comprise the biggest dollar earner for the country today, contributing a staggering record $38.34 billion in 2024, or about P2.2 trillion per year. Pinoy sailors are the utter heroes of the Philippine economy. Major contributors are Pinoy sailors in the US, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the UAE.

During the Honasan-led coup decades ago, children were selling cigarettes to both soldiers and rebels during the ongoing firefight. The kids were the true frontliners, in the name of survival.

Today, if there is a war in the Middle East, it is assumed that Pinoy sailors would be the last to leave. As one viral quote from an OFW interviewed on television went — “I’d rather die here than my family dies of hunger back home.”

This author just finished featuring in this column (StarGazer) a series of articles in tribute to the Pinoy sailors a few weeks ago. They are the heroes of today’s resilient global Pinoy workforce. Please read 1) Global Pinoy Sailors (1) – https://tribune.net.ph/2025/02/03/global-pinoy-sailors-1, and 2) Global Pinoy Sailors (2) – https://tribune.net.ph/2025/02/10/global-pinoy-sailors.