Nurni Sulaiman, Medan – Nine Indonesian crew members of a ship are in critical condition, stranded aboard a tanker ship off the coast of Beira, Mozambique.

They are among a total of 12 seafarers on the vessel, which also includes three Pakistani crew members. The crew are suffering from a dire lack of supplies, with no remaining food or clean drinking water.

Worsening their situation, the crew have been denied the freedom to disembark or transfer to another ship.

This comes after a United Kingdom-registered company refused to release them. The vessel, Gas Falcon, sails under the Gabonese flag.

"Here is our fate. Our salaries have not been paid from January to August. The Italian shipowner promised that after the cargo was unloaded at the port of Mozambique, our full salaries would be paid, and we would be sent home to Indonesia," one of the Indonesian crew members, Jefrison Nainggolan told The Jakarta Post through the WhatsApp messaging service.

Instead of returning to their home countries, the crew found themselves adrift in the Beira Sea, with no clarity about their future.

"The foreign media reports are true [...]" Nainggolan said, referring to an article from The Observer, which he sent via WhatsApp to the Post.

He added that the Indonesian crew had contacted the Indonesian Embassy in Maputo but there had not been any development.

According to the report, the crew have not received any pay in 2025, with collective wage arrears now reaching US$260,000.

Gas Falcon was previously transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Shipowner Gator Shipping assured the crew that they would receive payment upon unloading the cargo.

Instead, the vessel was relocated to a more remote anchorage, leaving the crew helpless.

They were barred from disembarking due to lacking valid Mozambican visas.

The seafarers repeatedly emailed Federico Careri, who is the majority owner of the company, according to company records, pleading for essential supplies. Careri has occasionally authorized delivery of limited supplies to the vessel via port staff in Mozambique.

According to The Observer, the number of seafarer abandonment cases is on the rise.

Over 2,280 seafarers were left stranded on 222 vessels this year, with unpaid wages totaling $13.1 million, a 30 percent increase from the previous year, according to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), which advocates for abandoned crew.

Many of these vessels are registered in countries with weak law enforcement and owned by shell companies that obscure accountability.

In a cost-cutting and fiercely competitive shipping industry, some shipowners simply walk away when faced with financial troubles, leaving crews unpaid, abandoned and without food, water or legal recourse.

The fragmented nature of maritime law varies across countries and, combined with limited accountability in overlapping jurisdictions, creates fertile ground for exploitation.

The registered owner of Gas Falcon is Gator Shipping Alfa, whose parent company is Gator Shipping Limited, a private limited firm based in Torquay, Devon, England, the United Kingdom.

"According to the regulations of the Beira maritime authority, we cannot disembark unless there is a replacement crew. Under international maritime law, it's true that seafarers are not allowed to leave the ship," Nainggolan said.

"In our situation, with no food, fresh water, drinking water or fuel left, we have no choice but to leave the vessel and go ashore."

However, the problem is that they still cannot go ashore because all of their documents, including passports, seaman books, seafarer certificates and the ship's papers, are being held by the Beira maritime authorities. As a result, they can only wait for their fate, drifting aboard the vessel in the waters off Beira.

He urged the Indonesian government to intervene and ensure that their right to a decent life and labor is restored, calling for immediate action to resolve their dire circumstances.

They have been stranded for 10 months at the time of writing.

Source: https://asianews.network/indonesian-crew-abandoned-off-mozambique-waters-without-food-denied-freedom