There are a handful of cargo ships—officially 50, likely more—waiting around in or near a port but not allowed to dock, and the crew isn’t allowed to leave. We hear mostly from Mehmed (?). He was third in command on his ship, which arrived in Egypt with a lot of cement or maybe it was concrete. By the time they arrived, their salaries hadn’t been paid in months, and the owner said it would be even longer until they did get paid. They refused to unload until they saw the money. The owner resisted and threatened for a bit, and then just went silent.
Egypt didn’t want them leaving the ship fully abandoned, it would be a hazard. Ships need constant maintenance. So it said they weren’t allowed, and they’d be imprisoned if they did. This went on for months, and they started to ration because they were running out of food. They also started fighting amongst themselves. Mehmed wanted to leave, but not alone, and no one else did. He thought of things like swimming three miles to a beach, or somehow jumping ship to one under a Turkish flag (his home country) and stowing away, but his family talked him out of it.
Two organizations help out in cases like this. Mission for Seafarers (a tiny organization, like two men and a motorboat) gets food and sim cards and so on to them. And some TLA tries to help with legal stuff, contacting owners, putting pressure on home countries, that sort of thing. (“Home countries” are the countries the ships are registered under, usually a flag of convenience.) Eventually (it was over a year at this point, possibly long over) this second organization managed to help in Mehmed’s case, they got stuff settled in the Egyptian courts that everyone except the captain was allowed to leave and go home. And the captain got to stay in a hotel near port until the ship was auctioned, which could be months more. We’re not told who if anyone is maintaining the ship or what happened to “unmanned ships are a hazard”.
Someone from the TLA describes how he once spoke to one of these owners, who basically said the crew were the last thing on his mind and basically just a commodity: he also had a mortgage, other debtors, etc.
A similar story starting in 2013: a ship arrived in Beirut carrying lots of ammonium nitrate (basically a bomb, I think also a fertilizer). Owner couldn’t or wouldn’t pay or just disappeared entirely. Eventually the crew was let off, the bomb was unloaded into a hangar, and the ship sank. Then in 2020, the bomb was still in a hangar, and famously exploded.
99% Invisible #441 (5 May 2021): Abandoned Ships
There are a handful of cargo ships—officially 50, likely more—waiting around in or near a port but not allowed to dock, and the crew isn’t allowed to leave. We hear mostly from Mehmed (?). He was third in command on his ship, which arrived in Egypt with a lot of cement or maybe it was concrete. By the time they arrived, their salaries hadn’t been paid in months, and the owner said it would be even longer until they did get paid. They refused to unload until they saw the money. The owner resisted and threatened for a bit, and then just went silent.
Egypt didn’t want them leaving the ship fully abandoned, it would be a hazard. Ships need constant maintenance. So it said they weren’t allowed, and they’d be imprisoned if they did. This went on for months, and they started to ration because they were running out of food. They also started fighting amongst themselves. Mehmed wanted to leave, but not alone, and no one else did. He thought of things like swimming three miles to a beach, or somehow jumping ship to one under a Turkish flag (his home country) and stowing away, but his family talked him out of it.
Two organizations help out in cases like this. Mission for Seafarers (a tiny organization, like two men and a motorboat) gets food and sim cards and so on to them. And some TLA tries to help with legal stuff, contacting owners, putting pressure on home countries, that sort of thing. (“Home countries” are the countries the ships are registered under, usually a flag of convenience.) Eventually (it was over a year at this point, possibly long over) this second organization managed to help in Mehmed’s case, they got stuff settled in the Egyptian courts that everyone except the captain was allowed to leave and go home. And the captain got to stay in a hotel near port until the ship was auctioned, which could be months more. We’re not told who if anyone is maintaining the ship or what happened to “unmanned ships are a hazard”.
Someone from the TLA describes how he once spoke to one of these owners, who basically said the crew were the last thing on his mind and basically just a commodity: he also had a mortgage, other debtors, etc.
A similar story starting in 2013: a ship arrived in Beirut carrying lots of ammonium nitrate (basically a bomb, I think also a fertilizer). Owner couldn’t or wouldn’t pay or just disappeared entirely. Eventually the crew was let off, the bomb was unloaded into a hangar, and the ship sank. Then in 2020, the bomb was still in a hangar, and famously exploded.