A new study by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust has revealed an alarming trend: seafarers’ right to shore leave has effectively ceased to exist.
Since 2020, the number of crew members actually leaving the ship during a layover has fallen by 61%.
📉 What’s happening in ports?
Even those who are able to leave spend less than two hours ashore—68% of all respondents do so.
Key reasons:
- extremely short layovers;
- high watch intensity and lack of free time;
- stricter port access regulations since the pandemic;
- logistical delays, which are forcing companies to accelerate vessel turnaround.
⚠️ The right exists, but the opportunity does not.
While the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) guarantees seafarers the right to shore leave, in reality, operational decisions and commercial pressure make this right virtually inaccessible.
The ITF emphasizes:
“Seafarers have the right to access port, and the industry has a responsibility to create the conditions to ensure this right does not remain a formality.”
🌍 The deterioration is particularly noticeable in large, congested ports, where shipping lines are reducing port time to a minimum. In some regions, seafarers have been unable to disembark for months, even with visas and permits.
Seafarers’ organizations are calling on port states and shipowners to review procedures to ensure minimum human rest time on land—a crucial component of crew well-being.агополуччя екіпажів.