The world’s largest seafaring nations have called on the International Maritime Organization to support a fund of last resort to support abandoned crew.

China, Indonesia and the Philippines presented the idea of a Seafarers Emergency Mutual Fund during the IMO’s legal committee meeting in late July in response to the rising number of crew abandonment cases.

Discussions are at an early stage, and the IMO has invited member states to share their views in the next legal committee meeting in March next year.