Ghost ships worldwide

In 2020, the number of abandoned ships grew by 80 percent compared with the previous year, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 70 ships and more than 1,000 seafarers were abandoned in 2020, despite the efforts of international organizations, NGOs, and mariners’ unions to create stronger instruments to protect seafarers’ rights and hold ship owners accountable.
The UAE is an especially popular destination to abandon ships, possibly because the country and its neighbors have not signed on the Maritime Labour Convention that protects seafarers' rights.

Number of abandoned ships worldwide between 2017 and 2020

Characteristic	Number of abandoned ships
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Release date

February 2021

More information

Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

2017 to 2020

Supplementary notes

The total number of abandoned ships in 2020 was calculated by Statista based on the list of abandoned ships published in the Abandonment of Seafarers database. This list can be retrieved by filling in the Abandonment date field (from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020) in the search feature of the database.
Data for years prior to 2020 was retrieved from here.

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