Shipping struggles to stamp out illegal recruitment fees

Nearly one in three seafarers has been asked to pay illegal recruitment fees to secure work aboard merchant ships, according to new research released as the industry launches a major push to eradicate the practice.

The study, by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and maritime consultancy TURTLE, found that 31% of seafarers surveyed had been asked to pay for a job — despite such fees being banned under the Maritime Labour Convention. The findings prompted the launch of an online toolkit to help shipping companies identify and remove recruitment-fee risks across their crewing supply chains, an initiative backed by more than 30 organisations including CMA CGM, NYK Shipmanagement, Odfjell, Wilhelmsen Ship Management, IMC Ship Management, Gard, Anglo American and Louis Dreyfus Company, alongside unions and welfare bodies.

The practice appears widespread. Almost half of those charged paid between $500 and $5,000, while some reported paying more than $10,000. Nearly three-quarters of those asked ultimately paid, often unaware the fees were illegal. The charges frequently appear in disguised forms — inflated training charges, medical processing fees, document costs or advance payments tied to securing a job.

"You cannot solve a talent shortage with an industry that charges people to enter it," said Isabelle Rickmers, CEO and founder of TURTLE. "Illegal recruitment fees do more than break the law, they poison the very entry point our industry most needs to protect. When a newcomer's first experience is exploitation, we lose them before they begin, along with everyone they would have brought in behind them."

Francesca Fairbairn, who leads IHRB's shipping work, said the financial burden can trap seafarers in debt and raise the risk of exploitation. "No worker should face the scourge of recruitment fees," she said. "Our research shows these illegal fees are endemic in shipping, putting a heavy burden on the seafarers who transport our goods."

The toolkit gives companies a five-stage framework to identify, monitor and reduce recruitment-fee risks, moving from basic compliance through to active oversight of recruitment practices. Its launch coincided with the Day of the Seafarer.