My passport is being held

Withholding a seafarer's passport, CDC, or other identity documents by an employer, manning agent, or anyone other than immigration officials and the Master is a serious red flag and is unlawful in most jurisdictions. MLC 2006 Standard A1.4 paragraph 5(a) — together with ILO Convention 181 — prohibits private employment agencies from holding seafarer documents. If your passport is being held against your wishes you are entitled to demand its immediate return and to escalate to port-state-control, the ITF, ISWAN, and your home country's embassy.

Step-by-step

1. Ask for the passport back in writing (WhatsApp, email, or paper) — keep a copy of the request. The request itself becomes evidence if it is refused.
2. If you are still in the joining country and have not signed on, return to your home country and report the agency to its licensing authority.
3. If you are onboard, ask the Master to return the passport — under SOLAS Chapter V Reg 28 + MLC A5.1.5 the Master is required to address an onboard complaint of this kind.
4. If the Master refuses, escalate to the Port State Control inspector at the next port — bring it as a complaint under MLC Standard A5.2.2 onshore-complaint procedure.
5. Contact the ITF inspector in the same port and ISWAN SeafarerHelp (+44 800 012 1004) in parallel — the ITF inspector can intervene directly with the owner; ISWAN can mediate and help recover the document.
6. Contact your home country's nearest embassy or consulate. They can issue an emergency travel document and write to the foreign authority on your behalf.
7. If documents are seized as part of trafficking, debt-bondage, or coerced labour, report to the ILO Forced Labour helpline and to the national anti-trafficking authority — many port states treat passport confiscation as a trafficking indicator under the Palermo Protocol.

Evidence to save

• Written record of every request to return the document (date, channel, recipient).
• Photographs / phone-photo backup of the passport, CDC, and any visa pages — taken before sending the original.
• Any contract, offer letter, or agency form that says 'we will hold your documents' — this is itself a violation under most regulators.
• Names of witnesses onboard or at the agency who can corroborate that you asked for the document back.
• Time and place of every conversation.

What NOT to sign

• A 'consent' form authorising the agency or owner to keep your documents in 'safekeeping' — there is no MLC-compliant version of this.
• A waiver of repatriation rights conditional on returning the document.
• A wage settlement linked to releasing the document — flag it to the ITF instead.

Legal basis

MLC 2006 Standard A1.4(5)(a) (recruitment-and-placement services must not hold seafarer documents). ILO Convention 181, Article 9. UN Palermo Protocol (Trafficking in Persons). National anti-trafficking statutes. Master's duty under MLC A5.1.5 to receive and address onboard complaints.

Primary sources

• MLC 2006 Regulation 1.4 + Standard A1.4 (Recruitment and placement)
• ILO Convention 181 (Private Employment Agencies)
• ITF — Get Help (passport withholding)
• ISWAN SeafarerHelp
• Rights pillar: passport / documents held

Organisations that can help

• Sailors' Society — UK head office
  Europe · Crisis Response Network 24/7
  📞 +44 23 8051 5950
  💬 WhatsApp +44 7903 805950
• ISWAN — Family helpline (for relatives of seafarers)
  Global · 24/7
  📞 +44 20 7323 2737
• Stella Maris UK (Apostleship of the Sea)
  Europe · 24/7 emergency
  📞 +44 20 7901 1931
  💬 WhatsApp +44 7505 906261
• ISWAN Yacht Crew Helpline
  Global · 24/7
  📞 +44 20 7323 2737
• ISWAN Australia
  Asia-Pacific · Mon-Fri 9-17 AEST
  📞 +61 1800 071 217
• ISWAN Singapore (SeafarerHelp Asia)
  Asia-Pacific · Mon-Fri 9-18 SGT
  📞 +65 6478 5111
• Sailors' Society — Singapore office
  Asia-Pacific · Mon-Fri 9-18 SGT
  📞 +65 6634 1990
• OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) — Philippines
  Asia-Pacific · 24/7 hotline (PH only)
  📞 1348
• Stella Maris USA (Apostleship of the Sea of the United States)
  Americas · Mon-Fri 9-17 CT, port chaplains 24/7
  📞 +1 504 581 1693
• Stella Maris Philippines
  Asia-Pacific · Mon-Sat 9-17 PHT
  📞 +63 2 8554 0500
• Stella Maris India
  Asia-Pacific · Mon-Sat 10-18 IST
  📞 +91 22 6710 4040
• Mission to Seafarers — Rotterdam Centre
  Europe · Mon-Sun 9-21 CET
  📞 +31 10 412 8338
• Mission to Seafarers — Singapore Centre
  Asia-Pacific · Mon-Sat 9-21 SGT
  📞 +65 6276 5404
• Mariners' Club Hong Kong (Mission to Seafarers)
  Asia-Pacific · Mon-Sat 9-21 HKT
  📞 +852 2341 1485
• Deutsche Seemannsmission Hamburg
  Europe · Daily 14-22 CET
  📞 +49 40 314 070
• Sjømannskirken (Norwegian Seamen's Mission)
  Europe · Mon-Fri 9-15 CET
  📞 +47 55 55 22 55

Disclaimer. General information only — not legal advice. Jurisdictions differ on enforcement. If you suspect trafficking, do not confront the holder of the document — contact ISWAN, the ITF, or the local anti-trafficking authority through a safe channel.