RMT demands urgent reform after report reveals seafarers denied shore leave

The research, published by the World Maritime University and the ITF Seafarers Trust, surveyed 6,000 seafarers working on bulk carriers, car carriers, container ships, passenger ferries, offshore vessels and cruise ships.

The findings are damning:

- Over a quarter (26%) of seafarers are getting no shore leave at all.

- Nearly 70% report either not going ashore or only going 1–3 times during an entire contract.

- The average contract length is over six months, exposing workers to extreme fatigue and unsafe roster patterns.

- Offshore and tanker crews report the lowest access to shore leave.

- Among passenger ferry workers who do get shore leave, 50% are only ashore for 3 hours or less.

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “This report lays bare how the Maritime Labour Convention is failing seafarers. Long contracts, minimal rest, and widespread misreporting of hours are creating a toxic culture of fatigue and exploitation.

“The Convention is being treated as a tick-box exercise and that is not acceptable.

“It’s not delivering the continuous improvements to working lives that it promised.

“During the P&O scandal, RMT repeatedly highlighted the industry-wide problem of seafarers being stuck onboard for up to 17 weeks without shore leave — a practice that still continues today.

“These failures are happening across the board — from deep sea shipping to short sea ferries and offshore energy.

“We know fatigue is being covered up by widespread misreporting of hours of work and rest.

“Shore leave is vital for physical and mental health. It is not an optional extra.

“The UK Government’s Seafarers Charter in the ferry sector is a positive first step.

“But it must become a template for raising standards across the global industry — for every seafarer, whatever their nationality, and wherever flag the ship sails under.

“If politicians are serious about a just transition, they must urgently address the clean energy supply chain, where conditions are already failing—starting with the rights of the seafarers who power it.”

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