Sailors stuck aboard a damaged ship sent frantic emails for help, writing that an urgent solution was needed before it was too late, in a message with "SOS" in the subject line.
The crew members of the ship were trying to get help from Sierra Leone, the country with the flag that is not over the ship.
According to WSJ, the crew was running out of food and began fishing to survive. Seawater was ruining their cargo of sulfur, creating nasty fumes, and tainting the diesel fuel of the vessel. The ship's owner stopped paying insurance and employee wages, and stopped responding to messages asking for help.
The flag is down.
According to the WSJ, all cargo ships have to fly a flag from a country that is not their own. The flag fees that crews or ship owners pay to maritime offices in their country is supposed to entitle them to emergency help, among other services.
The crew was flying the flag of Sierra Leone. Hundreds of ships transporting billions of dollars of cargo are regulated by the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration. The government of a small country that flies the flag of a ship often lacks the resources to regulate cargo or respond to emergencies, which is why the Haj Abdullah was destroyed.
The ship should be abandoned.
After months of pleading for help, the Haj Abdullah finally made it back to port.
More than 1,000 sailors are stuck on ships without pay, according to the WSJ. It is not known if the cargo ship problems play into supply chain breakdowns, but both human lives and valuable cargo are being negatively impacted, and they should not have to resort to emails and newspapers to get help.
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