FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedin In an exclusive interview to SAFETY4SEA, Francesca Fairbairn, Oceans Programme Manager, Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), raises the alarm over the criminalisation of seafarers—a growing and serious issue that ranks alongside crew abandonment as one of the most pressing challenges facing seafarers today. Francesca points out that seafarers on vessels with a higher likelihood of abandonment are often those who have paid recruitment fees, highlighting a strong correlation between fee payment and crew abandonment. She also suggests that, rather than focusing solely on enhancing seafarers’ resilience, more effort should be directed toward improving onboard conditions. In this regard, it is encouraging to see that discussions around seafarers’ rights and welfare have significantly increased over the past five years. However, despite this progress, many industry players still fall short—not only of good practice but also of basic legal and ethical standards. RelatedNews Over 9,000 Filipino seafarers repatriated amid Strait of Hormuz crisis DNV: How to document PFOS-free fire-extinguishing foam on board var jnews_module_21340094_0_6a0221158baf9 = {"header_icon":"","first_title":"Related","second_title":"News","url":"","header_type":"heading_8","header_background":"","header_secondary_background":"","header_text_color":"","header_line_color":"","header_accent_color":"","header_filter_category":"","header_filter_author":"","header_filter_tag":"","header_filter_cpt_post_tag":"","header_filter_cpt_tribe_events_cat":"","header_filter_cpt_web_story_category":"","header_filter_cpt_web_story_tag":"","header_filter_text":"All","sticky_post":false,"sticky_post_filter":false,"post_type":"post","content_type":"all","sponsor":false,"number_post":"2","post_offset":0,"unique_content":"unique1","include_post":"","included_only":false,"exclude_post":"21340094","include_category":"","exclude_category":"","include_author":"","include_tag":"133,2373,