Knowledge Nugget | Who protects seafarers at sea? Understanding maritime governance and international laws

Seafarers have been at the focus since the outbreak of the Iran-US war. The recent death of three Indian seafarers raises questions about their security and the laws governing the sea. Let’s understand this in today’s article.

1. The war in West Asia, triggered by the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 and the subsequent naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz, has jeopardised Indian lives and livelihoods, apart from the economic impact.

2. Since Indian seafarers are part of the global shipping industry, they have become casualties in the ongoing conflict. At least 13 Indians have been killed since the start of the war, and one remains missing.

The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) defines a seafarer as “any person who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship to which this Convention applies”.

3. Indians make up about 15% of the world’s seafarer workforce — the second biggest share by nationality. Around 7,40,000 seafarers are registered with India’s Directorate General of Shipping, and 3,23,479 of them are active seafarers.

What do the flags of countries mean in shipping?

4. Flags on ships foremost show which country the vessel has been registered with, rather than the owner or the crew’s nationality. Each commercial vessel needs to register with a country’s flag so that it has a legal nationality. This determines the laws a vessel must follow and the protections its crew receives on board.

5. As the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) says, “By linking a ship to a State, the system of ship registration indicates that that State has the right to protect that ship in international law.” This identification becomes necessary also because ships move through international waters, which are not under the jurisdiction of any state.

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6. Under the framework of international law, all countries need to fix the conditions for granting their nationality to ships and the right to fly their flag. However, there is currently no common, binding framework for the registration process.

7. In India, the Directorate General of Shipping is responsible for verifying the credentials of ships, their owners, and recruitment and placement agencies. But the shipping community alleges that lax regulatory oversight is behind issues such as abandonment.

8. According to the DGS website, the registration affords evidence of title of the ship to those who deal with the property in question. It further gives protection to the members of the crew in case of casualties involving injuries and/or loss of life to claim compensation under the provisions of the Indian Acts in Indian courts.

9. Countries must also exercise their jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying their flag. The responsibility for monitoring ships’ compliance with international standards on safety, pollution prevention and on-board living and working conditions lies primarily with the flag state.

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What is the concept of a “flag of convenience” in international shipping?

10. The 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the global treaty on maritime activity. It states that a “genuine link” must exist between the state and the ship registered with it, but again, there is no definition of such a link.

11. Some countries only register vessels with ties to the country through ownership or crewing (“closed registries”). Other countries allow foreign-owned or controlled vessels to use their flag through an “open registry”. Still others choose not to allow the use of their flag for international trade at all. Open registries are now widely used around the world, the IMO says.

12. A 2023 article in The Diplomat said that flagging a ship can mean a vessel has access to state-specific tax breaks, certification, and security measures. This is known as the “flag of convenience,” where ships choose states that offer the most benefits. “To that end, most merchant ships are registered in only a handful of countries, with the top eight flag states for 2023 listed as Panama, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Malta, and the Bahamas,” it said.

What is Port State Control?

1. According to the Directorate General of Shipping, Ships trade most of the time internationally. It is possible that during a certain period, ships’ certificates may not have been renewed, or that maintenance in general has suffered for various reasons.

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2. “Therefore, it is imperative that ships must be inspected at various ports to ensure compliance with rule requirements as regards safety, maintenance, manning, etc. This control is termed as Port State Control,” as per the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.

3. The main purpose of Port State Control is to eliminate substandard ships to ensure safer ships and cleaner oceans. The main philosophy to the port state control is to identify substandard ships at any port and take corrective action before they are allowed to proceed to sail

What is Seafarer abandonment?

4. In March 2026, 20 Indians and two others were stranded on the MV Manali near Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port amid active bombings. They have posted social media appeals for urgent rescue. In 2025, 19 people, 17 of them Indians, were stranded off the UAE coast on the tanker Global Peace.

Infographics by NotebbokLM

5. Seafarer abandonment refers to a scenario where shipowners cut off all support to their crew, leaving them stranded without pay, food, shelter, medical care or a way home, either aboard a vessel or in a foreign port. Under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 — a key international treaty ratified by more than 100 countries — abandonment is defined as the failure of shipowners to fulfil these core obligations.

IMO’s annual Day of the Seafarer, celebrated each year on June 25th, is the Organization’s global campaign to give wider recognition to seafarers.

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Why are ships increasingly deploying “shadow fleets”?

6. Shadow fleet is a broad term used to refer to vessels that use deceptive shipping practices to move sanctioned commodities across the seas without being caught. The Palau-flagged vessel, that killed three Indian seafarers was described as a shadow fleet ship by a US official, who said that the tanker was being utilised in order to illegally transfer Iranian oil and evade sanctions, AP reported.

7. Shadow fleet vessels operate in a manner that makes tracking, detection and enforcement difficult. Their deceptive practices include creating opaque business structures that conceal ownership and the commodity’s origin.

8. Shadow fleet tankers frequently switch off or manipulate their automatic identification system (AIS) during high-risk activities such as entering sanctioned ports or conducting illegal ship-to-ship transfers.

9. According to International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidelines, AIS should always be in operation when a ship is sailing or at anchor, unless the master of the ship decides that broadcasting the information is a threat to its safety or security.

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10. AIS is seen as critical for safe maritime navigation. Switching the transponder off essentially makes the vessel untrackable and invisible to other ships’ systems, which can significantly increase the risk of collisions at sea. This risk becomes even greater in crowded waterways such as the Strait of Hormuz.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Key international laws governing seafarers

1. Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006: The MLC was adopted at the 94th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) on 23 February 2006. India ratified it in 2015.

According to DG Shipping, MLC is considered as the “fourth pillar” of International Maritime Law and ‘bill of rights’ for the seafarers providing them not only their fundamental rights as workers, but also provide minimum international standards for living and working conditions

2. International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974: This has led the way to ensuring the safety of merchant ships worldwide, alongside their crews that are vital to ensuring the world’s vessels can operate smoothly and safely. India has ratified it.

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3. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS): It is a comprehensive international law that lays down the broad frameworks for legitimate behaviour on, and use of, seas and oceans everywhere. It defines the rights and duties of nations regarding activities in the oceans and also addresses issues such as sovereignty, passage rights, and rights of exclusive economic usage.

Post Read Question

Consider the following statements:

1. India has signed the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006, but hasn’t ratified it.

2. India has ratified the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974.

3. In shadow fleet tankers, automatic identification system (AIS) remains switched on all the time.

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How many of the statements mentioned above is/are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Answer key

(a)

Note: Statements 1 and 3 are incorrect.

(Sources: War in West Asia spotlights a growing risk for Indian seafarers: Abandonment, How energy tankers are using a shadow fleet ploy to slip out of Hormuz, http://www.dgshipping.gov.in, http://www.ilo.org)

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