This archive report was first published on 13 January 2020.
On January 13, 2020, a group of 10 Kenyan seafarers arrived at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa, marking the end of their ordeal after being abandoned in Mozambique by their employer.
The seafarers had been recruited by an agent to work on the Comoros-registered general cargo ship MV Nina, but were left stranded at Port Pemba in Mozambique.
They were rescued and repatriated through diplomatic channels between Kenya and Mozambique, highlighting the growing cases of maritime impropriety on the eastern seaboard of Africa.
According to Betty Makena, an official at the Mombasa-based East Africa International Transport Federation, the crew was owed more than $72,000 in salaries and allowances.
Frank Mbotela, one of the rescued men, alleged that they were recruited by an agent who disappeared once they arrived in Mozambique, and the ship operator refused to honour their work contracts.
Ms Makena warned that unregistered agents were taking advantage of the increasing number of unemployed seamen in the region, and that the East Africa ITF office had handled 11 cases involving crew members abandoned by agents in the past year.
