"Dangerous waters: migrant exploitation and racism on Europe's ships,"

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Due to the poor working conditions, few Europeans are willing to pursue maritime careers. "You invest your life in a job which is dangerous and keeps you away from your family – why would you do that?", says Andrea Albertazzi, the Fisheries Policy Spokesperson for the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), part of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), which advocates globally for the rights of maritime workers...

A large portion of migrant maritime workers in Europe, according to the ITF, come from Indonesia, the Philippines and North Africa. Markus Wichmann, working for the ITF in northern Germany and as an inspector in Hamburg, explains that nearly half of the migrant sailors he deals with are from the Philippines.

He paints a grim picture: "These sailors sacrifice a part of their lives and their time to provide for their families back home. In exchange, they endure a life with very little free time, being exploited as individuals, and sacrificing their own interests to support their families."...

"Of course, there are large, reputable shipping companies that employ large, reputable agencies. But there are also bad actors, where shipping companies seek out cheap crewing agents who then also treat their sailors poorly,” Wichmann explains.

The precarious working conditions are exacerbated by an opaque legal situation. While the Maritime Labour Convention has set minimum standards for working conditions at sea, in practice, things are different across the board. One prime example is that there is essentially no minimum wage.

The ITF negotiates minimum wages in collective bargaining agreements with employers and shipping companies, but these are not mandatory. Recruitment agencies can circumvent these and pay sailors based on their origin — a practice Wichmann describes as "institutionalised racism."

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