Lime
12 seafarers abandoned on the Lime (IMO 8857954, flag Comoros) in İzmit, Türkiye, 1 September 2025. ILO case 1543, status: Disputed.
- Status
- Disputed
- Abandonment ID
- 1543
- IMO Number
- 8857954
- Flag
- Comoros
- Port of Abandonment
- İzmit, Türkiye
- Abandonment Date
- 1 September 2025
- Notification Date
- 26 November 2025
- Seafarers
- 12
- Reporting Org.
- International Transport Workers' Federation
Circumstances
Outstanding wages for 4 months. 4 crew members have expired employment contracts.
Seafarers applied to insurer?: No
Insurance certificate dates: 10th September 2025 to 10th September 2026
Updates
26 August 2026: Azerbaijan
(From the State Maritime and Port Agency of Azerbaijan)
Thank you for information. We highly appreciate your concerns. It should be noted that we had immediately conveyed the information about the abandoned general cargo ship “LIME” to our MFA with official letter (December, 2025) for any convenient consular assistance to our citizen on the board. However, as we were not aware about identity and contact details of the seafarer our consulate in Turkiye had not real opportunity to help him.
So, we kindly ask if someone can share the name, position, and contact number of the crew member from Azerbaijan, we will be grateful.
26 August 2026: International Maritime Organisation
I herewith forward these very urgent request for assistance to the flag State Comoros, the port State Türkiye, as well as to the seafarer States Azerbaijan and Ukraine, for information and urgent action, as appropriate and to extend all necessary assistance in conformity with the attached joint IMO/ILO Guidelines on how to deal with seafarer abandonment cases.
26 August 2026: Other
(From the seafarers)
We, the undersigned members of the crew of the MV LIME (IMO No. 8857954), flying the flag of the Union of the Comoros, respectfully submit this collective appeal to the International Maritime Organization concerning our continuing abandonment, prolonged detention on board, unpaid wages, lack of adequate medical assistance and urgent need for repatriation.
We understand that our situation has already been reported and registered under Case No. 01543. We respectfully request that this case be urgently updated to reflect the continuing and increasingly serious humanitarian, medical and crew-welfare situation.
1. Prolonged retention of the entire crew on board
The crew has effectively been retained on board the MV LIME for approximately 10 months without the possibility of returning home. The employment contracts of all crew members expired in January 2026. Despite the expiry of our contracts, none of us has been effectively
repatriated and we remain on board the vessel. The vessel has been under arrest at anchorage in Istanbul since 5 February 2026. The crew has no realistic ability to resolve this situation independently and secure our return home.
We respectfully request urgent international intervention to prevent the crew from being indefinitely retained on board a detained vessel after the expiry of our employment contracts.
2. Unpaid wages since 1 November 2025
The crew has not received wages since 1 November 2025. This means that wages have remained unpaid for many months while the crew has continued to remain on board the vessel in extremely difficult circumstances. The prolonged non-payment of wages has caused severe financial hardship for the crew members and their families.
We respectfully request that all outstanding wages owed to the crew be recognized as an urgent matter and that appropriate measures be taken to secure their payment.
3. Repeated requests for medical assistance
The crew has repeatedly requested medical assistance, including requests made since March 2026. Despite these repeated requests, adequate and timely access to qualified medical doctors and medical facilities ashore has not been effectively secured.
The medical condition of members of the crew is a matter of serious concern. There have been, among other concerns, repeated episodes of extremely high blood pressure and serious chest pain affecting members of the crew. The crew considers that continuing to remain on board without proper medical assessment and treatment creates a serious risk to the health and safety of the affected seafarers.
4. URGENT – Medical disembarkation and medical repatriation
We wish to place particular emphasis on medical repatriation. Our request is not limited to general medical assistance. Where a qualified doctor determines that a crew member requires treatment, examination, recovery or continued medical supervision ashore and is not medically fit to remain on board, that crew member must be allowed to disembark and be medically repatriated without delay.
We therefore urgently request:
Immediate access for crew members to qualified medical doctors ashore;
Full medical examination and appropriate diagnostic assessment;
Necessary medical treatment;
Assessment of the medical fitness of each affected crew member to remain on board;
Immediate medical disembarkation where medically indicated;
Urgent medical repatriation of any crew member whose medical condition requires treatment or recovery ashore;
Appropriate arrangements to ensure that medical repatriation is not prevented by the vessel's arrest, financial disputes, contractual issues or other administrative matters.
The crew respectfully emphasizes that the right to receive urgent medical treatment and, where medically necessary, medical repatriation must not be delayed because of the commercial or legal dispute concerning the vessel.
5. Expired contracts and general repatriation
All crew employment contracts expired in January 2026. Despite this, the crew remains on board approximately 10 months after the beginning of the current period of detention and abandonment. We respectfully request that the relevant authorities take immediate steps to arrange the repatriation of all crew members, independently of the ongoing legal and commercial proceedings concerning the vessel. Those crew members who require medical treatment should receive medical repatriation as a matter of priority.
6. Humanitarian conditions on board
The prolonged detention and retention of the crew have resulted in severe physical, psychological and financial hardship. The crew has also experienced serious difficulties concerning provisions and living conditions on board, including problems with food supplies and prolonged lack of adequate fuel. The situation has continued for approximately 10 months and is no longer reasonably sustainable. We respectfully submit that the matter should be treated as an urgent humanitarian and crew-welfare situation, and not merely as a commercial dispute concerning the vessel.
7. Previous intervention and continuing failure to resolve the situation
We understand that the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has previously become involved in relation to the crew's unpaid wages and the situation of the vessel. However, despite previous interventions, the fundamental problems remain unresolved. The crew remains on board, wages remain unpaid since 1 November 2025, all employment contracts expired in January 2026, and adequate medical assistance and repatriation have not been effectively secured.
We therefore respectfully request that Case No. 01543 be urgently reviewed and updated in light of the continuing circumstances and the deterioration of the crew's medical and humanitarian situation.
8. Requests to the IMO
On behalf of the entire crew of MV LIME, we respectfully request that the IMO:
Confirm the current status of Case No. 01543;
Keep the case open and treat it as an ongoing abandonment and crew-welfare case;
Urgently communicate with the Flag State of Comoros, the relevant Turkish authorities, Port State authorities, ILO and ITF;
Request immediate measures to provide the crew with access to qualified medical care ashore;
Ensure that crew members requiring medical treatment are permitted to disembark without delay;
Ensure medical repatriation where recommended or required by a qualified medical doctor;
Request immediate measures for the repatriation of all crew members whose contracts expired in January 2026;
Request urgent measures to secure payment of all outstanding wages owed since 1 November 2025;
Ensure that the vessel's detention does not result in the crew being indefinitely retained on board;
Request the competent authorities to establish a concrete timetable for the crew's medical assistance, medical repatriation, general repatriation and payment of outstanding wages;
Provide the crew with information concerning the measures taken or proposed in relation to Case No. 01543.
9. Collective humanitarian appeal from the crew
We respectfully emphasize that this appeal is being submitted collectively by the crew of MV LIME. We are not asking for preferential treatment or special consideration. We are asking for the basic protection of the health, safety, contractual rights and fundamental welfare of seafarers who have remained on board for approximately 10 months, without wages since 1 November 2025, after the expiry of our employment contracts in January 2026, and without adequate access to medical care and repatriation.
The medical situation requires particular urgency. Any crew member whose medical condition requires treatment ashore must be provided with immediate medical assistance, disembarkation and, where medically indicated, medical repatriation without further delay.
We respectfully appeal to the IMO and all competent authorities to take urgent action before the situation results in further deterioration of the health and safety of the crew.
We are ready to provide copies of employment contracts, wage records, medical requests, Master's reports, correspondence with authorities, photographs and other evidence necessary to verify the circumstances described above.
We respectfully request written confirmation of the current status of Case No. 01543 and information regarding the urgent measures available to protect the crew and secure:
immediate medical assistance;
medical disembarkation where required;
medical repatriation where medically indicated;
repatriation of the remaining crew;
payment of outstanding wages; and
protection of the crew from further prolonged retention on board.
26 March 2026: International Transport Workers' Federation
P&I paid a lump sum to the crew, and 4 crew members have already repatriated at their own expense. An agreement was made to repatriate some of the remaining crew, with 2 more Ukrainians likely to leave soon, while 6 crew chose to stay. The ship has run out of water, provisions, and fuel.
Disputed.
26 November 2025: International Transport Workers' Federation
Bosun, Chief Officer, and Motorman have been on board for more than a year. Cook has been on board for over three years.