Skip to main content
ISWAN SeafarerHelp +44 800 012 1004 · free, 24/7, multilingualmore ▾
Skip to content
Seafarer Index
Sign in

I am stuck in port

Being stuck in port — unable to sign off, unable to leave the vessel, unable to fly home — is a crisis. It is often the visible end-stage of a wages, abandonment, contract, or visa problem. Stay calm, stay onboard if conditions are safe enough, and start collecting evidence while you raise the alarm through ISWAN, the ITF, the flag state, and your home country's embassy. You are not on your own.

Step-by-step

  1. Confirm the underlying reason in writing — wages unpaid, contract dispute, repatriation refused, visa issue, vessel under PSC detention, charterer dispute, owner insolvency. Each maps to a different escalation route.
  2. Take dated photos of the vessel, the berth, the agent's office (from outside), and any written notice you have received.
  3. Call ISWAN SeafarerHelp on +44 800 012 1004 (free, 24/7, multilingual). They will route to the right helper in the right country.
  4. Find the ITF inspector for your current port at itfseafarers.org/en/find-an-itf-inspector. The inspector can come onboard and intervene directly with the owner.
  5. Notify your home country's embassy or consulate in writing — they can issue emergency travel documents and contact the foreign authority on your behalf.
  6. If the vessel is under PSC detention, ask the inspector to open the seafarer-complaints channel under MLC Standard A5.2.2.
  7. If abandonment is the underlying issue, see /help/abandonment. If wages are unpaid, see /help/unpaid-wages. If repatriation is being refused, see /help/repatriation-blocking.
  8. Tell your family. They can apply pressure from the home country side (embassy, regulator, union, press).
  9. Do not sign any document presented as a condition of leaving — especially a release of wage claims or a quittance — without independent advice.

Evidence to save

What NOT to sign

Legal basis

MLC 2006 Title 2 (Conditions of employment), Regulation 2.5 (Repatriation), Standard A2.5.2 (Financial security for abandonment). MLC Title 5 (Compliance and enforcement) — onshore + onboard complaint procedures. Flag-state obligations under MLC 5.1. Port-state-control obligations under MLC 5.2 + IMO MoUs.

Primary sources

Related terms

Organisations that can help

Disclaimer. General information only — not legal advice. The right escalation depends on the underlying cause. Contact ISWAN and the ITF inspector first; they can map your situation onto the right route.