A new study reveals that nearly one in three seafarers has been asked to pay illegal recruitment fees to secure work on a merchant vessel. The findings were released as the shipping industry launches a major initiative aimed at eradicating this long-standing problem.

The survey, conducted jointly by the Institute for Human Rights and Business and shipping consultancy TURTLE, found that 31% of seafarers surveyed had been asked to pay fees for employment, despite such charges being expressly prohibited under the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.

These findings have prompted the industry to launch a new online toolkit designed to help shipping companies identify and eliminate recruitment fee risks within their crew supply chains. The newly introduced toolkit provides a five-stage framework for shipping companies to identify, monitor, and mitigate recruitment fee risks, progressing from basic compliance measures through to proactive oversight of recruitment practices.

The initiative has already garnered support from over 30 organizations, including CMA CGM, NYK Shipmanagement, Odfjell, Wilhelmsen Ship Management, IMC, Gard, Anglo American, and Louis Dreyfus Company, as well as multiple unions and seafarer welfare organizations.

Recruitment fees often manifest in various concealed forms, including inflated training costs, medical processing fees, documentation charges, or upfront payments made conditional on securing a job offer.

The research suggests that the practice remains widespread. Among those seafarers charged recruitment fees, nearly half paid between $500 and $5,000, with some paying in excess of $10,000. Nearly three-quarters of those asked to pay ultimately did so, frequently because they were unaware that the demand was unlawful.

Francesca Fairbairn, Head of the Shipping Programme at the Institute for Human Rights and Business, stated that the financial burden imposed by recruitment fees can trap seafarers in debt and heighten their risk of exploitation. "No worker should face the scourge of recruitment fees," she said. "Our research shows that these illegal fees are prevalent across the shipping industry, imposing a heavy burden on the seafarers who transport the world's goods."

Isabelle Rickmers, CEO and Founder of TURTLE, said: "Illegal recruitment fees are not only unlawful; they are poisoning the very gateway our industry most needs to protect. When a newcomer's first experience is one of exploitation, we lose that person before they have even started—and with them, we lose every other person they might have brought into our industry."