Indian sailors evacuated after 10 months stranded off Istanbul

ISTANBUL – Four Indian sailors who were stranded for 10 months on an abandoned container ship off the coast of Turkey have finally been taken off the vessel, an inspector told AFP on June 8.

The four had been trapped on board the Mongolia-flagged AZRA C, which has been moored off Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara since August 2025.

The ship’s purported owners were arrested in January in connection with a massive international drugs bust, leaving its fate and those on board in limbo.

“The hardship experienced by the crew has come to an end,” Selahattin Polat, Turkey representative of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), told AFP.

The crew spoke of their distress on June 5, speaking to AFP via an intermediary.

The ITF and the Marine Employees’ Solidarity Association had been providing the crew with fresh drinking water and basic necessities.

Under international maritime law, a ship must have sufficient crew members on board at all times to handle any emergencies – whether in port or at anchor.

But Polat said they had not been replaced.

“The new crew did not arrive. The ship was left unmanned,” he explained, saying “its security will be ensured by other means”.

He said legal steps to deal with the abandoned ship were ongoing.

The case highlights a growing problem of vessel abandonments, which the ITF says has become a “systemic” problem in the maritime industry.

ITF figures show 2025 was the worst year on record for abandonment, affecting 6,233 seafarers on 410 ships, with Indian nationals most affected.

Turkey was the country where the most abandonments took place, accounting for 61 cases in 2025.

There are currently 15 foreign-flagged vessels classed as abandoned at anchor in the Sea of Marmara, which lies between the Bosphorus Strait that leads to the Black Sea and the Dardanelles Strait, the gateway to the Mediterranean. AFP