The Palau registry is defending the actions it took in the Middle East Marine LLC seafarer abandondment cases. The Dubai tug operator was accused last week by the ITF perpetrating the ‘worst case of serial seafarer abandonment ever seen’, while Palau was called out by the union for irresponsiveness

Australia says complaints about breaches of the Maritime Labour Convention fell in 2023, which suggested seafarers trusted its regulator to take their welfare seriously. But abuses by employers continued to come to light

Two ship engineers face potential jail time in the US for violating pollution laws. The US says the two admitted oil was illegally dumped from their vessel when it was in New Jersey in 2022, and they instructed crew to cover up the act

Amid an alarming rise in seafarer abandonment cases, the ITF is accusing Dubai tug operator Middle East Marine of ‘systemic abuse and neglect’, with 17 abandonments reported since November 2022

Iranian foreign minister announces that the 25 crew of MSC Aries have been released and are free to go home, but MSC Aries itself remains under Iranian control on the grounds that it has ‘jeopardised the security of navigation’

Human Rights at Sea is seeking greater visibility on its Geneva Declaration on Human Rights at Sea, including adoption by UN bodies

Iran’s foreign minister said MSC Aries will be released, but there has been no formal announcement

The general cargoship allided with a bridge in Fuzhou province on the evening of April 22 and sank after trying to reach the nearby beach, leaving four of its crew still missing

The International Maritime Organization has condemned illegal and fraudulent recruitment of seafarers and said more work is needed to crack down on the problem

Size and scale of problem seen escalating dramatically with numbers of cases already three times higher than four years ago

‘Hub for Future Skills’ proposed by Singapore Maritime Foundation aims to enhance workforce competency for professionals in different career stages

FBI agents boarded Dali on Monday as part of a criminal investigation into the catastrophic Key Bridge allision, the Washington Post reported. A port worker told a CNN affiliate in the days following the incident the ship was experiencing severe electrical problems while in port, but retracted their comments the following day. Determination of criminal negligence or wrongdoing could significantly impact the owner’s general average and limitation of liability claims