The Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) has blacklisted 86 vessels after investigations revealed repeated cases of abandonment and detention of Indian seafarers.
According to Circular No. XX of 2025, issued on 5 September 2025, the ships were found to be operating without minimum mandatory documentation, including valid P&I insurance, while some lacked genuine ownership or statutory certificates.
The DGS cited findings from the Seamen’s Employment Offices and its Crew Branch showing that seafarers on these vessels suffered non-payment of wages, lack of repatriation, unsafe working conditions, detention by port authorities, and cases of fraud.
Show Cause Notices have been issued to several Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers Licence (RPSL) companies linked to the vessels. With immediate effect, RPSL companies are prohibited from recruiting or deploying Indian seafarers on the listed ships.
Companies currently employing Indian seafarers on such vessels must arrange prompt sign-off, repatriation, and settlement of wages and entitlements. All RPSL companies involved with these ships, past or present, are required to submit detailed reports to the DGS within 14 working days.
The circular warns that non-compliance will lead to penalties including suspension or cancellation of RPSL licences, blacklisting of agencies, and legal proceedings under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, and relevant Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) provisions.
The directive, approved by Capt. P. C. Meena, Deputy Director General of Shipping, was issued “in the interest of protection of the rights, dignity and welfare of Indian seafarers” and to uphold India’s obligations under the MLC, 2006.
The Directorate General of Shipping is an attached office under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India. It functions as the regulatory authority for merchant shipping and seafarer welfare, responsible for implementing international maritime conventions and administering the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.