Recruitment fraud plagues India’s maritime sector, putting seafarers at risk

The study highlights cases where seafarers have been charged exorbitant fees by unlicensed recruitment agencies for non-existent or unsafe jobs, leading to financial exploitation and dangerous working conditions.

A recent report has shed light on the widespread issue of recruitment fraud in India’s maritime sector. It uncovers how illegal recruitment practices are damaging the lives and careers of thousands of Indian seafarers and their families, trapping them in cycles of debt, exploitation, and dangerous working conditions.

ISWAN helpline

The report says that since 2019, the International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network’s (ISWAN) SeafarerHelp helpline has handled 475 illegal recruitment cases, affecting 1,048 Indian seafarers. These seafarers have sought help from ISWAN after their agent has taken a recruitment service charge, but the promised job has not materialised or after being placed in unsafe working conditions after paying  a fee. ISWAN supports seafarers and their families around the world with our free helpline services, educational resources, relief funds, and humanitarian support.

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The report titled: “The Impact of Recruitment Fraud on Indian Seafarers jointly by Gujarat Maritime University and ISWAN, said that a seafarer and two of his colleagues had not received their wages. They had each paid ₹2 lakh to an unlicensed recruitment agency to secure employment. The agency promised that they would join a ship in a country with a strong track record for seafarer welfare. However, when they received their travel documentation, they realised that the location for joining ship had been changed to a country associated with high levels of seafarer abandonment and poor welfare standards. Having already paid a service charge and seeing few other options, the seafarers took up the positions.

When they joined the vessel, they were given new Seafarer Employment Agreements with much lower salaries than had been agreed before they left India and without coverage by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

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India, as one of the world’s leading providers of seafarers with a workforce of around 250,000, continues to see many seafarers fall prey to unregistered agents, the report says.n

Simon Grainge, Chief Executive of ISWAN, highlighted the urgency of addressing recruitment fraud and its devastating effects on seafarers and their families. Seafarers face danger, fatigue and isolation and have very little job security. It is appalling that the very people who keep the world’s supply chains running are exploited by unscrupulous agents, whose actions severely impact seafarers and the families who depend on them, he said.

Fraudulent placement agencies 

S. Shanthakumar, Provost (I/C) of GMU, said the report aims to better understand recruitment fraud and raise awareness among the general public, government, and other stakeholders about the challenges that seafarers duped by fraudulent agents face in seeking justice.

The report recommended that India should amend the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, to incorporate specific provisions prescribing monetary penalties and criminal sanctions on individuals who operate recruitment and placement agencies without a licence from the Seamen’s Employment Office.

The proposed ₹2 lakh fine on registered recruitment and placement agencies as provided in the Merchant Shipping Bill, 2020 should be made more stringent to ensure that it is a sufficient deterrent to charging fraudulent service charges to seafarers.

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The Merchant Shipping Recruitment and Placement Rules, 2016, should be amended, and a designated fund should be established to protect seafarers who join ships through unregistered manning agencies.

The Directorate General of Shipping should put in place procedures to ensure that seafarers recruited through unregistered agencies can access support, for example, if they are stranded overseas. This should include working in a more structured way with seafarer welfare organisations that can provide emotional and psychosocial support to seafarers during such times of crisis, as well as looking after the wellbeing of their families.

Shyam Jagannathan, Director General of Shipping, in the report’s foreword said, “We are aware that in India as in other seafarer-supplying nations, more concrete steps are needed to address the problem of recruitment fraud and protect seafarers from exploitation.”

E-migrate and e-governance systems are precursors to an end-to-end solution leveraging technology to engage seafarers with a seamless experience, he said.