Four Indian sailors have been stranded for months on an abandoned container ship off İstanbul, unable to leave because maritime rules require the vessel to remain manned, inspectors said Friday.
In a message sent to Agence France-Presse, the crew members said they were losing hope after 10 months on board the Mongolia-flagged AZRA C, which has been moored in the Sea of Marmara since August 2025.
The ship’s alleged owners were arrested in January in connection with an international drug trafficking and money laundering investigation, leaving the vessel and its crew in limbo.
“Every day we are losing hope and facing increasing mental pressure and health problems,” one Indian crew member told AFP through an intermediary, asking not to be named.
“We are searching for new ways to overcome this situation. We have no words to describe it,” he said.
The case highlights a rise in vessel abandonments, which the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) says has become a systemic problem in the maritime industry.
Selahattin Polat, the ITF’s Turkey representative, has demanded that the crew be allowed to disembark “as soon as possible” on safety grounds.
“The ship is on the navigation route of other vessels and poses a serious risk in terms of maritime and vessel safety,” Polat told AFP.
Polat, an İstanbul-based ITF inspector who has been handling the case and helping the crew, said the sailors were in a difficult position.
“The ship’s owner is under arrest and there’s nobody to talk with,” said Polat, who also represents the Marine Employees’ Solidarity Association (DAD-DER).
Local shipping agents, who provide vessels with essential services, stopped supplying the ship after they were not paid, he said.
“Currently, no one is taking care of the ship. It’s completely abandoned,” Polat said.
Under international maritime rules, a ship must have enough crew members on board to respond to emergencies, whether it is in port or at anchor. That means the four sailors, who have not been paid for months, cannot leave until a new crew arrives.
“There is a shortage of fuel and provisions on board,” Polat said, adding that legal procedures had been launched to allow them to leave.
When the vessel arrived in August, it needed repairs, and its alleged owners, Ahmed al-Masri and Semra al-Masri, were dealing with the local shipping agent, an industry source said.
But then they disappeared.
“We later learned they had been arrested,” the source said.
In mid-January, İstanbul prosecutors named the pair among 12 people arrested by Turkish police on allegations of drug trafficking and money laundering, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Prosecutors said the raids were directly linked to Spain’s seizure of 10 tons of cocaine from a ship called the United S off the Canary Islands a week earlier.
One of the main detainees was a suspect named Çetin Gören, whom Turkish media reports also linked to the AZRA C.
The Hürriyet newspaper reported that the AZRA C had first been planned for use in carrying the cocaine shipment but that the plan was abandoned after the ship broke down.
ITF figures show 2025 was the worst year on record for vessel abandonment, affecting 6,233 seafarers on 410 ships, with Indian nationals the most affected.
Turkey recorded the highest number of abandonments last year, with 61 cases.
There have been 151 cases worldwide so far this year, the ITF said.
The situation raises concerns about the protection of seafarers and compliance with international maritime obligations, according to Arif Sinan Ünlü, a lawyer and mediator.
There are currently 15 foreign-flagged vessels classified as abandoned in the Sea of Marmara, he said. The ITF confirmed the figure.
İstanbul port authorities are monitoring the situation, as is the Indian consulate, which is trying to secure the sailors’ repatriation.
For now, the ITF and DAD-DER are providing the crew with drinking water and essential supplies, Polat said.
He said the vessel would need to be handed over to a trustee or a new crew brought on board, but acknowledged that such procedures “would take time.”
Although grateful for the ITF’s help and the consulate’s efforts, one of the sailors told AFP they had “little hope someone will come and rescue us.”
If someone came to speak with him face-to-face, he said, “I would break down crying.”
© Agence France-Presse