Unrest at Sea: Calling Time on Silence, Injustice, and Exploitation

Amy Field reports from a recent conference addressing efforts to tackle violence and harassment at sea

At a conference hosted by the Seafarers’ Guild of Benevolence on July 3 2025, powerful anonymous testimonies from seafarers highlighted the continuing gaps in the maritime industry’s duty of care.

Established in the wake of the Titanic disaster, the Guild has long championed seafarers’ welfare, but as the event made clear, the need for reforms in safeguarding and accountability are more urgent than ever. The event brought together politicians, union representatives, international regulators and several current UK seafarers working within the cruise sector to discuss how seafarers can be better protected. Key concerns ranged from modern slavery to racism and misogyny, sexual harassment, and the precarious nature of seafaring contracts.

Fear of reprisals

Simon Grainge from the International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network and Nusrat Ghani MP, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, were among the key speakers. Ghani highlighted the challenge of enforcement in a fragmented international system where ‘money trumps the law’, calling for stronger penalties on employers and ‘far more substantial structures’ within the IMO to tackle abuse and harassment.

Seafarers testified to discriminatory practices and systemic barriers in the workplace, many of which were rooted in racism. One anonymous third engineer described a segregated pay system, where salaries were determined by nationality rather than qualification or experience. Their testimony spoke of being denied promotions and excluded from decision-making, despite English being the official working language onboard. ‘These are not isolated incidents, these are patterns’, they said.

Life at sea often intensifies workplace challenges due to its confined and isolated environment. Several testimonies described hostile conditions, including incidents of misogynistic and racist bullying. Attendees also heard accounts of seafarers who suffered abuse but were afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation or losing their jobs.

The role of short-term contracts also came under fire, with calls for longer contracts to better protect workers and reduce the incentive for companies to overlook rights abuses. Employment practices were identified as a barrier to justice, with seafarers often unsure who actually employed them and fearful of reprisals for making complaints.

Better enforcement

In light of recent amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention aimed at protecting seafarers from violence and harassment onboard, there were repeated calls at the conference for this policy change to translate to better enforcement. Panellists questioned the overlapping oversight responsibilities of the IMO and ILO, highlighting the need for clearer accountability. They also stressed the urgent need for an effective complaints procedure and for accessible emergency support services, particularly in cases of sexual harassment.

‘Who is going to own it?’

Representatives from the IMO spoke about the role of upcoming amendments to STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping), which will introduce training on dealing with harassment. But many attendees felt these responses lacked urgency and clear implementation plans. As one participant said, ‘These points have been talked about for 40 years, who is going to own it now?’

Ultimately, it became clear that leadership on these issues must come from seafarers, their representatives and their trade unions. Only seafarers themselves have the lived knowledge to understand the issues, and the resolve to lead the fight for fairer, safer conditions at sea.