There is a ghost ship. An old rusty tramp steamer, one of those boats that go wherever there is cargo to be loaded. It has been lingering in South-East Asian waters for months waiting for cargo.

At the moment it is moored off a long beach on the edge of a large city. From the beach, it looks like just another part of the view. At night all you see are a few lights twinkling on the deck.

Even the crew are ghosts. They too are tramps, vagabonds who have sold themselves for a two-dollar-a-day pay check.
From on board they look towards the coast, the beach and the city. They would like to disembark, feel the sand under their feet, walk amongst the buildings or buy something at one of the local eateries lit up with coloured lights. Perhaps even find a woman.
But they can’t do any of that, they have to remain ghosts. If they went ashore, they would become men. Or rather, sub-men with no legal identity. They would be put in jail and would probably stay there for a long time. No one would come to free them. And they would lose what little they do have.
That’s why these ill, hungry and desperate ghosts stay on board. They are waiting for the ship owner to pay them and send them back home. In the meantime, they catch fish to survive.
There is only one woman who can help them. She works for charity and sailor protection organisations. She has taken water, rice and chocolate on board. And a phone card. She is the only person that can protect them from Mr Lu, the ship owner. He’s another ghost, but a bad one. He never appears, but he sends the odd message to the captain. He wants to convince him to move elsewhere, where they will be able to repair the ship and set sail with a new cargo. But in those waters there is no possibility of outside help or control. Not to mention that, while sailing to other coasts, the ship may well disappear on the high seas.
For now, the woman and the crew still hope that the ship owner will decide to pay them. If he doesn’t, the final resort would be to report him for human trafficking. In that case the eleven men on board ship would be deported. But they would be going home penniless.

This is just one of many stories of abandoned ships, of crews betrayed and replaced by other equally desperate people. This story quotes no names or nations, no acronyms or flags. That’s because it may still end well. If ending well means anything.
In the meantime many other stories are ending or still going on. There are people working like slaves on fishing boats, and they are the ones that vanish into thin air. There are still many murky areas in the beautiful waters of South-East Asia.





Link.
The International Maritime Organization
The International Committee on Seafarers' Welfare
International Transport Workers' Federation
Apostleship of the Sea