The Tokyo and Paris Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control will launch a joint three-month concentrated inspection campaign (CIC) on crew wages and seafarers’ employment agreements starting September 1. During this campaign, vessels found non-compliant may receive deficiencies, instructions for rectification, or even detention. The campaign’s findings will be reported to the MoUs’ governing bodies and may be submitted to the International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This initiative comes amid a surge in crew abandonment cases, which are expected to hit record levels this year. According to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, seafarers should be paid monthly, and cases of abandonment occur if crews are owed two months or more of wages or lack essential provisions. The IMO has reported a dramatic increase in abandonment cases, from just over a dozen annually a decade ago to 143 in 2023.
